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Thermaltake

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COMPUTER POWER USER

AE5 ENCRYPTION & YOU
PAGE £12

PAGE EZJ, E5

PAGE B"7

BENCHMARK

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WITH PROFESSOR KEVIN WARWICK
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Inspiring Innovation ■ Persistent Perfection

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CPU

COMPUTER POWER USER

May 201 1 I Vol 1 1 Issue 05

SPOTLIGHT

54 The DIY Destroyer

We Build Our Best PC Ever

56 Motherboard:

SSD:

Power Supply:

MSI P67A-GD80 (B3)

OCZ RevoDrive X2 100GB

Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250W

58 CPU:

Mass Storage:

Optical Drive:

Intel Core J7-2600K

Western Digital Caviar

Lite-OniHBS212 12X

59 Case:

Black 2TB

Blu-ray Disc Writer

NZXT Phantom

Memory:

Cooling:

60 Graphics Cards:

Corsair Vengeance 16GB

Antec Kuhler H 2 620

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580

Dual Channel DDR3

Benchmarks Obliterated

GV-N580UD-15I

Frontside

8 What's Happening

25
26

AMD Radeon HD 6990
Optoma GT720
Thermaltake Armor A30

32
33

InWinBUC

iStarUSA BPN-DE340SS

Geekbox Ego Maniacal v1 .0

14 Digital Economy

1 5 Dream Hardware

Gigabyte G1. Sniper
Plextor PX-256M2S

Thermaltake Level 1 GT
Sapphire Pure Fusion Mini E350

Heavy Gear

Zalman CNPS11X Extreme
Ooma Telo

16 Thunderstruck

10PSUsFrom660To
1 ,250 Watts
24 Nvidia GeForce GTX 590

30
31

Lepa G900

NZXT H2

MSI N550GTX-Ti Cyclone II

Sapphire Pure Black P67 Hydra

Copyright 2011 by Sandhills Publishing Company. Computer Power User is a trademark of Sandhills Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Reproduction of material
appearing in Computer Power User is strictly prohibited without written permission. Printed in the U.S.A. GST # 1 23482788 RT0001 (ISSN 1536-7568) CPU Computer
Power User USPS 020-801 is published monthly for $29 per year by Sandhills Publishing Company, 131 West Grand Drive, P.O. Box 82667, Lincoln, NE 68501. Subscriber
Services: (800) 424-7900. Periodicals postage paid at Lincoln, NE. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Computer Power User, P.O. Box 82545, Lincoln, NE 68501.

Hard Hat Area

Loading Zone

Digital Living

PC Modder

The Bleeding Edge Of Software

92 At Your Leisure

36 Core i7-2600K Overclocking

Inside The World Of Betas

PC & Console Games & Gear

Souped-Up Sandy Bridge

Blows

Up To Speed

98 Skill Or Luck?

Up Benchmarks

Upgrades That'll Keep

Penny Auction Business Rakes

40 Mad Reader Mod

You Humming Along

In Big Bucks

Lenovo K320 Ice

Exploring Explorer Alternatives

What's Cooking

42 Encryption Ignition

The Difference AES
Instructions Can Make
46 Advanced Q&A Corner
48 X-ray Vision: Texas

78
82

Third-Party File System Wranglers
Million Monitor March
Multimonitor Software Stretches
The Limits Of Your Desktop
DataNumen Advanced Outlook

Repair 3.2
Caelo NEO Pro 5.02
Avid Studio

Diskeeper 201 1 Professional
Joli OS

Fulfilling Its Promises
Software Tips & Projects
Stop Following Me, Part 2
Warm Up To Penguins

101 Technically Speaking

An Interview With soundmatters'
Lee Adams
105 Under Development

Instruments' OMAP 5

A Peek At What's Brewing

New SoC Promises To Change
Interaction With Smartphones
50 White Paper: Micron ClearNAND

83
84
86
89

In The Laboratory

Back Door

New Design Aims To Improve
NAND Performance, Longevity

110 Q&A With Professor
Kevin Warwick

Infinite Loops ~

* • V""*^

Meet The World's First Cyborg

Strange stats and VJ

Sweet Suites For Your Open Office

other oddball items ^/

7vcBw

from computing's (gj

periphery. 88, 90 ..^m

v>^

Editor's Note

We're a stone's throw from April and we're putting the finishing touches
on the May issue, but a glance out the office windows reveals a gentle but
steady snowfall blanketing the streets we'll soon venture out on to get
home. Winter hasn't yet relinquished its frigid grasp on the North American plains,
which means that we're still not spending a ton of time outside here. What's left to
do but build a monster PC?

OK, we'd probably have built this PC even if it was 90 degrees Fahrenheit outside
and other types of folk were out waterskiing and having picnics in the park, or whatever
it is that regular people do. The point is, we built it, and yea verily, it is good.

Ensconced in its MSI B3 P67 board, our Intel Core i7-2600K hit 4.7GHz with
the tenderest of nudges, and thanks to our Antec watercooling unit, will very likely
surpass that with gusto. Combine this with the performance of the OCZ RevoDrive
X2 handling the system's booting duties and the Corsair Vengeance memory keeping
all of that data flowing at Ludicrous Speed, and you have a PC that starts fast, runs
fast, and stays cool. (Having a brace of Gigabyte GTX 580s at one's beck and call
doesn't hurt, either.)

Make sure you stop by and take a look, starting on page 54, and if you like what
you see, stay tuned: We will be giving this PC away at a
major LAN event in the coming months, once it gets
warm enough for us to venture outside.

In the meantime, we have also put together a
roundup of nearly a dozen power supply units (page
16), including five that are rated at either 1,200 or
1,250 watts, as well as a few in the 660- to 850-watt
range. If you're planning a new project or just need to
beef up your system's power, check it out. And
just in case your sudden need for more power is
related in some way to the upcoming purchase of
a new dual-GPU video card, you should also head
to pages 24 and 25, where we have the results
of our tests of both Nvidia's GeForce GTX 590
and AMD's Radeon HD 6990. Both cards have
arguments for and against them; picking a clear
winner has seldom been this difficult.

Enjoy, and we'll see you next month.

^\2

f^**\**>

Chris Trumble, Publication Editor, CPU

Sandhills
Publishing*

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FRDNT5IDE

WHAT'S HAPPENING

HARDWARE

Compiled by Blaine Flamig

WD Swallows Hitachi, Expands HD Lead

Essentially, we're down to Toshiba and Samsung as the only competitors to
WD and Seagate in the hard drive-making game after WD's mid-March
announcement that it's gobbling up Hitachi in a deal worth roughly $4.3
billion that's expected to close in Q3 2011. The acquisition will see WD
and Hitachi operate under the Western Digital brand and keep WD's
headquarters in California, although Hitachi CEO Steve Milligan will
come aboard as WD president. The deal sees WD, already the world's
top hard drive manufacturer, acquire the world's third largest, giving WD

nearly 50% of the global
drive market to Seagate's
roughly 30%. WD already
was the world's top drive
maker per units but now
supplants Seagate as the
top maker per sales. WD
hopes to add to those
numbers with its new
external 6TB My Book
Studio Edition II
for Mac and Windows
systems for $549.99. ■

LaCie Brings The Thunder

In other storage news, LaCie recently demoed
the Little Big Disk, an external drive using Intel's
super-speedy Thunderbolt interface touting
lOGbps prowess and the ability to support
PCI-E and DisplayPort over one cable. The
technology recently became available in Apple's
new MacBook Pro. With Thunderbolt support
in tow, LaCie says the Little Big Disk can "deliver
multiple streams of HD video and offload hours
of content in minutes without compromising
bandwidth and performance." Little Big Disk
sports two Thunderbolt ports and supports daisy
chaining up to six peripherals. Look for 500GB
and 1TB versions of the external drive this
summer at still undisclosed prices with two SSDs
inside and integrated RAID included. ■

8 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

FRDNT5IDE

WHAT'S HAPPENING

HARDWARE

Shower, Sing, Save Energy

Shower radios aren't anything new. Neither is the fact that shower radios use replaceable
batteries. Until now, that is. The H20 Shower Radio (about $57) connects directly to a
shower hose and uses the water blasting through it to power the radio. Made by H20 Power
and available via Tangogroup.net, the H20 Shower Radio specifically uses "an internal water
jet system" that creates extra water pressure inside the radio that operates an integrated wheel-
turbine to create energy. Thus, in addition to listening to music, news, sports, and more while
getting sudsy, there's no need to worry about changing batteries. Further, extra energy that the radio
creates gets stored in the radio's internal battery so it's ready to use when the shower isn't on. ■

ardware

o e

Is There Hope
ForTheZune?

The Zune's days appear over. Bloomberg stated
as much recently, reporting that because of
"tepid demand" Microsoft will stop introducing
new Zune hardware and "shift its focus to other
devices." Bloomberg cites "a person familiar
with the decision" as its source. Microsoft will,
however, work to put Zune software on mobile
phones, Bloomberg reports, letting users buy

via subscription plans. Microsoft reportedly
responded in an email that it had "nothing
to announce about another Zune device"
other than it recently introduced "Zune HD
to Canada via the Zune Originals store," it
remains committed to "supporting our devices
in North America," and Microsoft's "long-term
strategy focuses on the strength of the entire
Zune ecosystem across Microsoft platforms."
It was 2009 that Microsoft released the Zune
HD, possibly the last all-new Zune hardware

Antec Aims
To Rock(us)

Chances are fair you're already
using an Antec component or two
in your gaming or high-end system.
Antec would like you to expand upon that
in an audio sense by using its new soundscience Rockus 3D | 2.1 speaker system
($249.99). Included is an active subwoofer with passive radiator ("deep bass
from a compact subwoofer enclosure, eliminating the need for a larger, bulkier
subwoofer") and anodized aluminum satellites with 3D-tuned drivers producing
150W total of "audio optimized for soundscience's 3Dsst technology." According
to soundscience, 3Dsst "analyzes the frequency content and pan/positioning of
sounds in the incoming audio stream, and then uses certain types of filtering and
phasing to widen the sound stage and create the effect of listening to a much
larger surround speaker system." Inputs include 3.5mm, RCA, and optical ports,
while a puck-shaped control pod grants control of volume, 3D or music modes,
and digital or analog input selections. ■

D-Link Mixes & Matches With Hybrid Router

So what does "hybrid" look like in terms of a router? If you're D-Link, it looks
like the Wireless-N PowerLine Router ($129.99; model DHP-1320), an IPv6-
ready all-in-one Ethernet, Wi-Fi (up to 300Mbps), and powerline (200Mbps)
powerhouse. Using Atheros Hy-Fi technology, which "expands coverage, improves
performance, and simplifies network setup and management," the DHP-1320
dons three Ethernet ports and is HomePlug AV-certified. Combined, the con-
nectivity options give users a "simple way to extend their networks into 'dead
zones' where wireless coverage has previously been limited or spotty, such as a
basement, an upstairs bedroom, or other hard-to-reach locations," states D-Link.
Accompanying the DHP-1320 are four new 200Mbps PowerLine accessories,
including the PowerLine AV 4-port Switch ($99.99), PowerLine AV Wireless N
Extender ($1 19.99), and PowerLine AV Network Starter Kit ($139.99). ■

CPU/ May 2011 9

FRDNT5IDE

WHAT'S HAPPENING

SOFTWARE

Manufacturer operating system share-srnartphones

Nov '10 - Jan 1 1, postpaid mobile subscribers, n= 14,701

okia
2%

:hcr
:l%

J f

Source: The Nielsen Company.

nielsen

Android Tops Among Mobile OSes

Who is winning the smartphone war these days? If it's a matter of deciding solely based
on operating systems, a poll of 14,000 mobile subscribers that The Nielsen Company
recently conducted says it's Android, which holds a 29% mobile OS market share to
RIM BlackBerry's 27% and Apple iOS' 27%. When decided by manufacturer market
share, however, RIM and Apple's come out on top because "they are the only ones cre-
ating and selling smartphones with their respective operating systems." Manufacturer-
wise, Apple and RIM top HTC, which owns a 12% share of all Android OS devices
and 7% stake of all Windows Mobile/Windows Phone 7 devices. Motorola claims a
10% share of all Android OS devices and 1% share of Windows Mobile/WP7 devices.
Samsung holds 5% and 2% shares, respectively, in both camps. ■

RSA Feels The Wrath Of APT

On St. Patrick's Day, Executive Chairman Art Coviello told users of RSA security
products, including scores of corporations and governmental agencies, that RSA's
security systems had identified "an extremely sophisticated cyber attack in progress
being mounted against RSA" that was deemed of the "Advanced Persistent Threat"
variety. The attack "resulted in certain information being extracted from RSA's
systems," including data tied to SecurlD two-factor authentication products.
Last year, Google was reportedly hit by APT attacks originating from China.
Although RSA is "confident" the extracted data didn't "enable a successful direct
attack" on RSA SecurlD customers, the data could potentially be used as part of
a broader attack "to reduce effectiveness of a current two-factor authentication
implementation." Various experts were advising SecurlD users to make certain
current passwords are strong, set password attempt lockouts, and change
passwords for accounts that grant privileges. ■

GNU Promises
Open-Source,
Skype-Like Project

The GNU Project announced in
mid-March a new GNU Free Call
project that could essentially see
the creation of an open-source
Skype alternative that works on
all platforms. According to a blog
post at GNU Telephony, project
coordinator Haakon Eriksen and
project architect David Sugar wrote
that communication would occur
"without requiring a central ser-
vice provider to register with" and
"without using insecure source se-
cret binary protocols that may have
backdoors" and without "network
control points of any kind that can
be exploited or abused by external
parties." Using a peer-to-peer SIP
protocol and creating a "self-orga-
nizing meshed calling network,"
the GNU Project believes it will
"eliminate potential service control
points," including those through
"explicit routing peers even if net-
works are isolated in civil emergen-
cies." Initially, the project will build
upon the GNU SIP Witch, a VoIP
server already available in some
Linux distros. I

; i M ]

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— G

FT rcniGlinnur | IKS J7C4! f,r vr:- I

10 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

ware Shorts

Filmmakers Plan To Frighten
With BitTorrent

We can't tell you if the Australian horror flick "The Tunnel" is any good.
We can tell you the movie contains a nice twist, however. In addition
to Transmission Films, a collaborator of Paramount, distributing DVD
copies of the film May 19, movie makers Julian Harvey and Enzo
Tedeschi will distribute it online free the same day via BitTorrent.
On BitTorrent, the duo states "perhaps rather than wasting millions
of dollars fighting a losing battle against Internet piracy, we should
try and find a way to embrace the possibilities that this new world
brings." By not "fighting the peer-to-peer networks," they state,
torrents "could become
the biggest revolution we
have ever seen in the way
we share entertainment

and information." Harvey
and Tedeschi produced
"The Tunnel" under the
135K Project moniker, a
nod to the movie's 135,000
individual frames, which the
filmmakers sold for $1 each
with a promise of randomly
selecting one on the release
date and giving the owner
of the frame 1 % of the
movie's revenue. Roughly
30,000 frames were sold
as of press time. ■

Lordy, Lordy, Look Who's 40

Did you stop and pay respects to Creeper in mid-March? No? Us, either. After all,
giving a hardy "Happy 40th Birthday!" to what many experts consider the first
computer virus seems wrong. Created in 1971 and believed to have been dubbed
"Creeper" in honor of a character from "Scooby Doo," the virus reportedly traveled
through Arpanet taunting users with the message, "I'm the creeper, catch me if
you can!" So, if Creeper was the first virus, what's happened since? Plenty. Besides
1982's Elk Cloner, which spread via floppies, there was 1987's Jerusalem, 1992's
Michelangelo, 1999's Melissa, 2000's I LOVE YOU, 2004's Sasser, 2007's Storm
botnet, 2009's Conficker, and last year's Stuxnet among others. Ah, the memories.
Compared to when Creeper was the only nasty one on the block, more than 200
million instances of malware were reported last year. ■

Microsoft Thumps
Rustock, Cuts Global
Spam Nearly 40%

Microsoft scored a major victory
against the bad guys in mid-March
by taking down Rustock, which
according to Richard Boscovich
of Microsoft's Digital Crimes Unit,
was "estimated to have approximately
a million infected computers oper-
ating under its control and has been
known to be capable of sending
billions of spam mails every day,
including fake Microsoft lottery
scams and offers for fake — and
potentially dangerous — prescription
drugs." The takedown, which
occurred through a "coordinated
seizure of command and control
servers in multiple hosting loca-
tions," reportedly resulted in a 39%
reduction in global spam output
soon after. At one point, Rustock was
reportedly pouring out 30 billion
spam messages daily, including
spam that "posed a danger to public
health" by "advertising counterfeit or
unapproved knock-off versions

CPU/ May 2011 11

FRDNT5IDE

WHAT'S HAPPENING

INTERNET

Online News Reigns
Supreme

If you get a portion of your news online,
you're far from alone. Recent results from the
Pew Research Center Project For Excellence
In Journalisms eighth annual "State Of The
News Media Report" found 46% of those
Americans polled access news online at least
three times a week vs. 40% accessing news
via newspapers, marking the first time online
news has topped print in this manner. Only
local TV news with a 50% share is a more
popular platform. Further, the center claims
that online advertising climbed almost 14%
in 2010 to $25.8 billion, surpassing the $22.8
billion it estimates newspapers took in in
print ad revenue. Across all media, Pew states
that "every media sector," except online, is
losing audience share. For the first time in
at least 12 years, for example, "the median
audience declined at all three cable news
channels," with CNN's median primetime
viewership dipping 37% in 2010, Fox's
11%, and MSNBC's 5%. ■

Despite Settlement, Love Apparently
Still Loves Twitter

Some people learn life lessons faster than others. Take rocker Courtney Love, for
example. After blasting fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir in a series of Twitter rants
in 2009, Love recently agreed to pay the designer a $430,000 settlement and avoid a
defamation suit Simorangkir filed. It's believed the trial would have been the first posing
the question if tweets could be deemed libelous. On Simorangkir's behalf, attorney Bryan
Freedman stated the case "shows that the forum upon which you communicate makes
no difference in terms of potential legal exposure." He added that "disparaging someone
on Twitter does not excuse one from liability." The entire experience didn't deter Love
from allegedly returning to Twitter under the handle cloverxxxlove in mid-March follow-
ing the settlement and laying a verbal beat down on comedian Chelsea Handler. ■

Ushahidi Pitches In On Japan Rescue Effort

Amidst all the horror that unfolded in Japan following its recent earthquake and tsunami
were numerous positives with technology implications, including the use of the free
Ushahidi platform, which enables users to "crowdsource information using multiple
channels, including SMS, email, Twitter, and the Web" and in turn, apply visualization
and interactive mapping functionality to relief efforts. TechnologyReview.com reported
that just hours after Japan's earthquake, Japanese volunteers and the Fletcher School at
Tufts University used Ushahidi to create sinsai.info/ushahidi, a Web site people could use
to share data concerning the crisis, including helping pinpoint on maps locations where
victims could be trapped and locations where supplies were obtainable. ■

What's Your Wish?

Amrit Richmond describes herself as a community developer

and creative strategist interested in "exploring the intersections of

art, tech, and social change." Proof positive is her "The Internet

Wishlist" project (theinternetwishlist.com).

Described as a "collection of ideas for apps and

Web sites people are wishing for," you can also

think of it as a "suggestion box for the future of

technology." Beyond sharing abilities via social

networks, each wish posted is accompanied by

a comment section for others to voice support

or provide solutions that already exist. Current

wishes at the site include a plea for an app

that lets you "find out cafe crowdedness and

seat availability in advance of going," someone

to use the "foursquare API to build a cab-sharing app," and "an

Angie's List for designers and developers where we could warn

each other about bad clients/vendors." Have a wish of your own?

Head to Twitter and include #theiwl in the wish vou tweet. "~

Moki.tv Organizes What
Cable-Cutters Seek

As Moki.tv aptly puts it, the way we access and discover content is
"changing radically and fast." This includes those of us who have

cut the cable TV cord and rely instead on

weo-oasea i v ana otner resources to
fill the gap. Not only does Moki.tv
aggregate free and paid movies and
TV shows from Netflix, Hulu, iTunes,
Amazon.com, and others, it lets you
manage these sources via your own queue
(including content not yet available for
viewing), share recommendations
and reviews via a profile page, instruct
Moki.tv to inform you when queued
content is about to expire, and import ratings from Netflix and
elsewhere to combine with Moki.tv's own user recommendation
system. (Reportedly, Moki.tv has roughly 40,000 movies and
60,000 TV shows presently, and it is adding titles daily.) ~~

12 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

PROFESSIONAL

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If you just spent March enjoying the high-def NCAA "madness"
that streamed online this year, then how about being part of
the next Web sports super event? Akamai, the content distribution
reaming services for March Madness, the Olympics, and World Cup
Soccer is looking for a Senior Software Engineer to work on HD Live Streaming technologies. You
may not be doing color commentary, but you will be designing the underlying technologies and
applications that make Web video feel like a home DVR. Those five years or more of C/C++ coding
and background in networks didn't teach you to slam dunk, but it may keep online viewers from
missing a dribble or a goal. Your job is to make sure the rest of us get an instant, on-demand
TV-like experience when we go to the Web for one of these major sports events. After all,
what fun is it to watch a World Cup without hearing (and replaying) that crystal-clear s _ S,
clarion call of "Gooooaaaallll!"? ^ .XhkJ&L'

PC *- V^ The Internet is sometimes known as the great equalizer, allowing
businesses of any size a chance to gain a following. But when
it comes to online ad dollars, eMarketer reports that the top five
sites continue to eat up the market.

Net U.S. ad revenues at top five online ad selling companies as a
percentage of total online ad spending, 2009-2012

2009 2010 2011 2012

Google 34.9% 38.9% 43.5% 47.6%

£»#Yff Yah °° ! 16 " 1% 13 " 4% 11 " 9% 1 °" 8%

fl^lCFC^^ V Facebook 2.4% 4.7% 7.7% 8.8%

Microsoft 4.7% 4.9% 5.4% 6.0%

A ^^ | ^ AOL 4.4% 3.4% 2.8% 2.4%

^^» |^^ Total Top 5 62.6% 65.3% 71.2% 75.5%

feceboofc

Percent of U.S. teenagers who visit
Facebook at least once a month

SSfik

Percent of U.S. teens who use the
Internet at least once a month (eMarketer

Percent of 6- to 1 2-year-olds wishing to
get an iPad in the next six months

Percent of all online entertainment searches by
kids that are for music or musicians (Nortor

Most Popular Online Coupons

According to digital coupon provider Coupons.com, cold
cereal is the most popular category among online coupon
clippers. The top 1 categories are:

1. Ready-to-eat cereal

2. Yogurt

3. Refrigerated dough

4. Portable snacks

5. Vegetables

6. Baby products

7. Soup

8. Air, rug, and fabric care

9. Cheese

1 0. Lunch meats

.^.

For The Love^Of Tablets

With Apple's iPad into its second generation and Android and webOS rivals emerging, tablet

fever is being driven by high levels of satisfaction with the platform. Although only 5% of

adults 1 8 to 34 actually own a tablet, according to the Pew Internet & American Life Project,

those who do really like the format. The NPD Group's survey of tablet owners found that when

it comes to Internet browsing, 68% were very -

satisfied with the tablet experience, compared to f

only 42% who felt the same way about browsing |

on a smartphone. Consumers also appeared |

happier making their digital rounds on tablets |

where email access (67% vs. 59%) and social J

networking (60% vs. 49%) were concerned. I

14 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVV GEAR

□ REAM HARDWARE

Dreamy weather beckons, so this month's installment consists of oddities and ends.

Enjoy them outside, please.

by Marty Sems

i. materialise DMLS

By the Maker! Just when you thought it was shaping up to

be a golden age for creators, prototyping service i. materialise

( i.materialise.com ) throws a titanium curve. The company

uses machines from EOS and Layerwise to print a 3D realization of whatever

you CAD up. Its DMLS process uses a laser to sinter layers of medical-grade

titanium powder. Afterward, technicians cut and polish away the support

structures necessary to withstand the heat of the 3D printing process. Don't

get carried away on size, though — i.materialise charges about $132 per cubic

centimeter of material. So much for DIY golf clubs, Terminator skulls, and replacement hips.

Nokia Ubice

Perhaps Pat Benatar was dating a Finn when she lamented a lover who came on like
a flame, then turned a cold shoulder. After all, when Nokia researchers in Tampere,
Finland ginned up the world's first touchscreen made out of a national resource,
river ice, they invited passersby to leave their virtually aflame gloveprints all over
it. The Context-Aware Social Media team from Nokia Research Center ( research
.nokia.com ) used software from the Natural User Interface Group ( nuigroup.com )
to track near-infrared light reflected back through the ice by users' hands as they
interacted with objects projected onto the "screen." Check it out at youtube.com
/watch?v=bbtr!6GjBsk . Oyl ■

Porsche 918 Spyder

We could really get behind this plug-in hybrk

I thing. Not that there's anywhere else to be with a Porsche like this — you're either behind

the wheel or simply left behind. We hinted i

it this concept a year ago (CPUs May 2010 issue), but now it seems that this Spyder is

indeed coming along. 218hp worth of electric

; motors help a 500hp+ V8 propel this all-wheel-drive bug to 199mph with a to 60mph

time near 3.1 seconds. What's that? Hybrids

are supposed to improve mileage and wean us off fossil fuels? Sorry, the limited edition,

carbon-fiber unibody can get up to 78.4mpg

, thanks to its liquid-cooled Li-Ion battery. All you need to do is be one of the first 918

punters to slap down $845,000, and then, ah,

wait two and a half years. ■

-^^^^^

HEAVV DEAR

"hunderstruck

1 PSUs From 660 To 1 ,250 Watts

In the worlds of processors and graphics
cards, bigger is almost always better, at least
in terms of performance. But when it comes
time to choose the right power supply, a little
finesse is much more enthusiast-sawy. You
don't just go out there and buy the meanest-
looking power supply you can find. You
want the PSU with the right output, based
on your hardware. That's how you get peak
efficiency out of it.

It's really discouraging that power supplies
rarely get any glory. Their cables are usually
bent out of sight, allowing sexier compo-
nents to shine through. That isn't going to
stop us from recognizing some of the most
capable power supplies today, though.
These 10 products cover the mid-range
and high end, enabling some of the most
potent overclocked CPUs and multi-GPU
configurations currently available.

How We Tested

We mounted each power supply to a dual-
level test bench in order to isolate power
supply noise from the rest of the system.
We measured standby power consumption
with the complete system turned off using
an Extech 380803 logger. We tested load

consumption with two and three graphics
cards sitting on the results screen of Just
Cause 2, which is surprisingly taxing for
PSUs because it cranks up GPU and CPU
utilization, and checked idle fan noise with
an Extech 407768 sound level meter.

(Editor's note: Prices listed reflect street
price at the time of this writing))

AntecHCP-1200

Antec's HCP-1200 takes the honor of
priciest power supply in our comparison.
And what does $300 buy? Up to
1,200 watts of continuous output, an
80 Plus Gold efficiency rating, enough
PCI-E-oriented plugs to support four
high-end graphics cards, a semi-modular
cable design, and five years of warranty
coverage. But several of the other PSUs
we're reviewing can also claim those
features, and at lower prices. For the
HCP-1200 to prove its worth, it has
to at least show us better performance.
That's exactly what Antec's flagship does,
though, delivering both aggressive idle
and load power figures.

The HCP-1200 employs a staggering
eight 12V rails, each rated for up to

30A. In theory, you'd be looking at more
than 2,800W with them all maxed out.
But Antec applies a combined current
cap of 99A across the octet. It's unlikely
that you'll overload any of the rails
individually, and each lead comes labeled,
so you can knowingly distribute power
draw across underutilized pipes.

We were initially nervous about the
power supply's rear-mounted 80mm
cooling fan, which is much smaller than
some of the competing top-mounted fans
that spin slower while moving the same
amount of air. Though the cooler does
accelerate when the PSU is under load,
the noise it generates is nothing compared
to the din of three GeForce GTX 580s
working cooperatively. Surprisingly, the
fan is one of the quietest in our roundup
at idle.

The HCP-1200 is technically semi-
modular, but Antec hard-wires more cable
onto its unit than other vendors. The
company smartly assumes you'll need the
24-pin ATX cable, an 8-pin 12V auxiliary
plug, and some SATA/4-pin Molex
connectivity. Also, if you're splurging on
a 1,200W PSU, there's a good chance

HCP-1200

$299 I Antec
www.antec.com

Specs: 1 ,200W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 8 +12V
rails (30A/rail); 80mm fan; 8 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; Semi-modular
cables; Five-year warranty

Silent Pro
Gold1,200W

$250 I Cooler Master
www.coolermaster.com

Specs: 1 ,200W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 1 +1 2V rail (98A);
135mm fan; 4 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; 4 6-pin PCI-E connectors; Semi-

16 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVY DEAR

you're driving at least a pair of high-end
graphics cards. So, you'll find seven leads
total emanating from the front of the
supply, with the option to attach five
more modularly (cables for two more
graphics cards, plus plenty of additional
SATA/4-pin peripherals). All of Antec's
cables are plenty long, but they're also
particularly stiff; maneuvering them
around a chassis can get tricky.

Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold
1,200W

There's no room for compromise at
the high end, and Cooler Master's Silent
Pro Gold 1,200W attempts to combine
all of the qualities we value in a PSU. It
boasts an 80 Plus Gold efficiency rating
and relies on a single 12V rail rated for up
to 9 8 A. Its critical cables are hard- wired,
and others are modular. Most of all, its
capacity is accommodating.

For all intents and purposes, the Silent
Pro Gold 1,200V/ is an ideal piece of
hardware, aside from a somewhat lofty
price tag. Our most glaring complaint is
its hard-wired cables, including the 24-
pin ATX connector, two 4+4 12V runs,
and two 6+2/6-pin PCI-E combo cables.
They're all super-stiff and difficult to
get into position. More frustrating, all
of the modular connectors are flat and
ultra-flexible, facilitating the bendability
we wish Cooler Master could have
enabled throughout.

Everything else about Cooler Master's
flagship is commendable. The company
designed the Silent Pro Gold 1,200W to
handle as many as four graphics cards, so
it had no problem feeding our three-way
GTX 580 setup nearly 900W Additionally,
it'll take up to nine SATA devices, a quartet
of 4-pin peripherals requiring Molex
connectors, and a floppy drive.

At idle, the supply's 135mm cooler runs
remarkably quiet. Cooler Master claims
a couple of different technologies help
the Silent Pro Gold achieve its thermal
performance: Hybrid Transformer and
Heat Transfer Technology. The former
consists of a smaller transformer that uses
less power, while the latter describes a
patented heatsink design that channels
airflow more effectively.

Given the Silent Pro Gold l,200W's
premium price and kilowatt-plus output,
it's suited to a very specific demographic —
power users interested in two, three,
or four very high-end graphics cards
to complement similarly demanding
processors. If that's not you, save some cash
and spring for a lower-wattage alternative.

Enermax M0DU87+ 700W

It's tempting to think that high-end
configurations require massive power
sources. However, Enermax's MODU87+
proves you can get away with a lot less if
you're using an efficient, well-designed
PSU. An 80 Plus Gold certification indicates

better than 90% efficiency at 50% load and
at least 87% efficiency at 20 and 100% load.

In real-world testing, the MODU87+
demonstrates the lowest consumption num-
bers in our roundup. What does this prove?
Enermax's offering turns more power from
the wall into useful energy. So, it gets away
with drawing fewer watts and generating
less heat. That's exactly what you want from
a high-end PSU. The MODU87+ achieves
its command performance using three +12V
rails, each rated for 25A of current.

On paper, the MODU87+ is almost
exactly on par with Seasonic's X660, a
single-rail design that costs significantly
less. Enermax does a better job with its
cables, though. The ATX and 12V auxiliary
connectors — necessary in every modern
PC — are hard-wired to the PSU. Everything
else is modular, spaced far enough apart for
easy installation, color-coded, and marked
with arrows to make sure you plug in each
cable correctly.

Enermax is particularly proud of its
cooling implementation. A 139mm Twister-
bearing fan is remarkably quiet at
idle, generating a paltry 41 dB. As load
on the PSU increases, the fan speeds up
in a nonlinear way, keeping acoustics as
conservative as possible until more airflow is
needed. Upon shutdown, the fan continues
to spin for up to a minute, dissipating latent
heat rather than letting it accumulate.

Although the MODU87+ commands a
difficult-to-ignore premium, it's also one of

M0DU87+ 700W

$199 I Enermax
www.enermaxusa.com

Specs: 700W continuous output; active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 3
+12V rails (25A/rail); 139mm fan; 4 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors;
Semi-modular cables; Five-year warranty

ZX-Series
0CZ-ZX1250W

$239 I 0CZ
www.ocztechnology.com

Specs: 1 ,250W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold;
1 +12V rail (104A); 140mm fan; 6 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors;
Modular cables; Five-year warranty

CPU/ May 2011 17

HEAVY DEAR

... the reasons for buying a top-end PSU narrow
down to driving three- and four-way graphics configurations.

the most efficient performers. An intelligent
modular cable design, quiet cooling, and
plenty of relevant connectors make this an
attractive option for enthusiasts with a little
more to spend on power.

OCZZX-SeriesOCZ-ZX1250W

As you crest 1,000W and start ap-
proaching the power limits of what a typical
household 15A breaker can deliver, the
reasons for buying a top-end PSU narrow
down to driving three- and four-way graphics
configurations. No other component even
comes close to requiring so much juice.
It's almost a shame, then, that OCZ's ZX-
Series 1,250V/ PSU is limited to three-way
graphics setups by its sextet of modular 6+2-
pin PCI-E connectors. Enthusiasts looking
to work around that cap can use dual-GPU
cards like AMD's Radeon HD 6990 and
Nvidia's GeForce GTX 590 to get four
graphics processors working in parallel.

The good news is that, of the 1 ,200W+
products in our roundup, OCZ's 1,250W
ZX Series supply gives you the greatest
output potential for the lowest price.
Our consumption measurements show
the ZX-Series unit very competitive at

idle, pulling a modest 209W from the
wall. It draws a little more power than
competing models under load, barely
exceeding 900W. Even still, a significantly
lower price gives OCZ immediate appeal,
overshadowing the loss of a few watts
with substantial savings.

A completely modular design doesn't
make much sense here, given the number
of connectors that get used in a high-end,
multi-GPU box. At the very least, the
bundled cables are long enough to stretch
up to optical drives and down to the third
card in a triple-graphics setup. They are
pretty stiff, though, and cables with mul-
tiple plugs (such as the 20+4 ATX and 6+2-
pin PCI-E connectors) have slightly uneven
wire lengths, making it more difficult to line
them up during installation.

Our unit had an intermittent resonant
buzz, which changed pitch depending
on the load being applied. We've heard
this from units in past PSU roundups,
and it's generally a one-off issue. At the
same time, it's worth noting as a potential
side effect of spending a little less on
all-out power delivery. OCZ does offer
five-year coverage on the ZX Series, so

you're at least assured coverage on any
manufacturing defect.

PC Power & Cooling Silencer 760W

Before it was acquired by OCZ Tech-
nology in 2007, PC Power & Cooling
was known for its enthusiast-oriented
power supplies based on principles dear to
then-CEO Doug Dodson. The company's
PSUs always centered on a single 12V
rail — critical, Dodson claimed, for ensur-
ing reliable power delivery. High-end
devices attached to a multirail power
supply might overload one pipe, leaving
others underutilized.

Fixed power cables is another hall-
mark of PC Power & Cooling. You see, a
modular design might encourage cleaner
installations, but removable connectors are
susceptible to failure. Contacts can corrode.
Plugs can come unlatched. The quality of an
electrical signal can deteriorate over time. By
arming its Silencer 760W with fixed cables,
PC Power & Cooling eliminates all of
those possibilities.

Of course, that leaves you with a lot
of cabling to keep neat. The Silencer
employs refreshingly long runs, making

Silencer
760W

$129 I PC Power & Cooling
www.pcpower.com

Specs: 760W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Silver; 1 +1;
rail (74A); 80mm fan; 2 6+2-pin PCI-E, 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors;
Fixed cables; Seven-year warranty

X660

$159 1 Seasonic

www.seasonicusa.com

Specs: 660W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 1 +12V
rail (54A); 1 1 0mm fan; 4 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; Modular cables;

18 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

«■

mspi

1 1 a ui u I

Full-Range Control - Each of the three included 200mm

is are professionally pre-wired, enabling
ambient fighting adjustments and fan speed control.

IHIIIIIII

Hinged Side-Panel Door - why didn't we
think of this sooner? Do rs are meant to
swing open.

Gaming Headset Holder - You're a gamer, so are we. The
built-in headset holder shows off your gear in style. Consider
the Tt eSPORTS Shock.

Convertible Top - easily swap in or out between true 200mm
ColorShift fan (included) or 120/240mm water-cooling radiatoi

•fen

Security Locks - Locks
for both hot-swappable
drives and side-panel
prevent unauthorized
access to your valuable
components and data.

Plug&Play Fan -AThermaltake
proprietary technology that enables

a fast and safe way to detach the
side-pane! door without having to
deal with the fan's power connector.

True Hot-Swappable Drives

Each of the five hot-swappable
drive bays comes with its dedicated
caddy. Uber-fast and most reliable
data transfer - check.

• Thermaltake
COOLall YOUR LIFE

e S PORTS

By Thermaltake

facebook.com/Thermaltakelnc

D0LL (R)RadioShack 4py§ {113 4B COMPU§A amazon-com;

HEAVY DEAR

it easy to reach remotely-located drives
and add-in cards. Tucking away unused
cables ends up being a small price to pay
for an emphasis on dependability. And
PC Power & Cooling takes that trait
seriously, backing the Silencer with an
unmatched seven-year warranty.

Although PC Power & Cooling indicates
this unit is only certified to support a
pair of GeForce GTX 470s, it had no
trouble driving our two GTX 580s well
below its 760W continuous power ceiling.
We measured respectable numbers from
the wall, though it has to be noted that
the unit's 80mm rear-mounted exhaust fan
generates more noise than most other units,
even at idle.

If you have a large case conducive to cable
management, it's hard to go wrong with a
battle-hardened design like PC Power and
Cooling's. Noise is a bother, but long, fixed
cables and a single 12V rail make this a
dependable workhorse.

Seasonic X660

They say it's what's on the inside that
counts. And inside Seasonic's X660 you'll
find plenty of goodness. To start, the
compact power supply is 80 Plus Gold-
certified. Although its peak output figures
are the lowest in our roundup, losing less
power to heat means the X660 still has
what it takes to drive a Core i7-990X
processor overclocked to 4GHz and a

pair of GeForce GTX 580 graphics cards
in SLI. Impressively, it does so while
drawing the least amount of wall power
under full load.

Seasonic also manages to give us the
lowest idle power consumption, and the
X660 is the quietest power supply at idle,
too. Its fan is actually one of its big selling
points. Integration of a Sanyo Denki ball
bearing fan purportedly enhances thermal
performance, and our idle noise numbers
concur; a lot of thought seemingly went
into optimizing this power supply's fan
control. At 20% load or less, the cooler
doesn't need to spin at all. Between 20
and 50% load, the fan spins at a fairly
constant level, ramping up only to address
the heat build-up you start seeing as
demands increase above 50%.

Those low noise figures and impressive
efficiency results prove that once you have
Seasonic's X660 installed, it's able to handle
heavy loads without breaking a sweat. But
while we like the PSU's single rail and 80
Plus Gold rating, we're not big fans of its
fully modular (and uncomfortably stiff)
cable design. To begin, the 24-pin ATX
motherboard cable (which should be fixed
anyway — you can't even run a PC without
it) is split into two connectors that have to
be twisted awkwardly to interface with the
power supply. All of the other cables are
modular, as well, and the connectors on the
PSU are crammed really close together.

A fantastic performer, you pay extra for
Seasonic's high efficiency and premium
fan. The X660 can handle a system with
dual GTX 580s, but we'd probably save
a lower-output unit like this for a fancy
single-GPU configuration.

SilverStone Stricter Gold ST1200-G

The only completely modular power
supply to ship with all of its cables attached,
SilverStone's Strider Gold ST1200-G
also includes an extra bundle of SATA
connectors. If you don't need as many 4-pin
Molex plugs, simply swap them out for
more storage-oriented support. This makes
the Strider the only unit in our roundup to
come with more connectivity than it actually
accommodates at any given time — a nod to
its flexibility.

But SilverStone needs more than just
an extra handful of SATA plugs to set the
Strider Gold apart. After all, it's one of four
1,200W+ 80 Plus Gold-certified PSUs in
our roundup. And priced at $290, it's also the
second-most expensive. Thankfully there's a
lot to like about the Strider Gold. To begin,
it benefits from a single +12V rail rated for
up to 100A of current. Once upon a time,
when the ATX standard limited each output
to 240VA or less, this might have been a bad
thing, as rails were divided up to prevent
overheating any one wire. These days, a single
rail helps enthusiasts ensure power-hungry
devices receive enough current.

Strider
GoldST1200-G

$289 I SilverStone
www.silverstonetek.com

Specs: 1 ,200W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 1 +12V
rail (100A); 135mm fan; 4 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; 4 6-pin PCI-E
connectors; Modular cables; Three-year warranty

T0P-800WS

$99 I Topower
www.topower.com

Specs: 800W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Silver; 2 +1 2V rails
(32A/rail); 120mm fan; 2 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; 2 6-pin PCI-E connectors;

20 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVY DEAR

Benchmark Results

i Enermax

i PC Power &Coc

)ling

i Seasonic

Topower

i Zalman

850W & Below

i M0DU87+

i Silencer 760W

i X660

i TOP-800WS

i XFXPro850W

i ZM850-HP PLUS

Rated output (continuous)

700W

760W

660W

800W

850W

Standby power

2.5W

! 2.3W

2.1W

2.4W

2.5W

Dual-GPU idle power consumption

1 163.3W

| 173.2W

| 167.4W

| 170.8W

| 176.3W

| 180.4W

Dual-GPU load power consumption

| 648W

| 667W

| 649W

| 654W

| 676W

| 655W

Idle fan noise

j 41.0dB(A)

[ 51.6dB(A)

! 42.5 dB(A)

I 44.5 dB(A)

I 48.2 dB(A)

j 44.8 dB(A)

: Antec

i Cooler Master

i OCZ

SilverStone

1.200W& Above

i HCP-1200

! Silent Pro Gold

1.200W

! ZX1250W

ST1200-G

Rated output (continuous)

! 1.200W

i 1.200W

i 1,250W

1,200W

Standby power

| 2.3W

! 2.5W

2.5W

! 2.2W

Triple-GPU idle power consumption

206W

| 21 3W

| 209W

208W

Triple-GPU load power consumption

! 874W

j 890W

j 901 W

884W

Idle fan noise

i 41.9dB(A)

I 45.6 dB(A)

43.0 dB(A)

I 43.2 dB(A)

SilverStone also validates the Strider
Gold's capabilities in a more realistic oper-
ating environment than many other
companies. It claims its PSU can deliver
1,200W continuous (1,300W peak) all
day long at 40 degrees Celsius (or 104 F).
Indeed, our benchmark results show the
ST1200-G to be one of the most efficient
units in our 1,200W+ crowd, drawing more
power than only one other unit, Antec's
HCP-1200. The Antec supply also does its
job a little more quietly However, you pay
a bit more for it, too. Really, both power
supplies are exceptional choices.

Given that we experienced one competing
model afflicted with a distracting whine
under load, it's notable that SilverStone
specifically points out the 2,200 microfarad
capacitors in its PCI-E power cables, said
to help prevent the buzz associated with
dynamic load changes. The Strider Gold
serves up four 6+2-pin plugs and four 6-pin
connectors, properly supporting four-way
CrossFire and SLI configurations.

Topower TOP-800WS

The dark horse in our roundup,
Topower's TOP-800WS manages to
cram 800W of output into a compact

enclosure selling for less than $100. Were
we apprehensive about its performance
potential? For sure. Should we have
been? Apparently not. The TOP-800WS
lays down impressive figures that rival
Zalman's expensive ZM850-HP Plus
and best XFX's comparably-priced Pro
850W. This unit offers less continuous
output than either of those PSUs but
has no trouble driving a pair of very
high-end GPUs and an overclocked six-
core CPU. Not surprisingly, the units
that outperform this one are 80 Plus Gold
PSUs; this one is only 80 Plus Silver-
certified. The step down is fairly minor
though, and you almost certainly won't
see the difference on your power bill.

Topower draws its muscle from a pair of
+ 12V rails, each rated for 32A. Although
we prefer single-rail designs, we're at least
pleased with the company's decision to
hard-wire its cables, nixing the possibility of
a connection failure somewhere down the
line. Each cable is amply long and flexible
enough to bend into place. Additionally, the
TOP-800WS' 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors
lock, unlike competing designs that have to
be mashed together before being plugged
into a high-end graphics card.

Test sytem specs: CPU: Intel Core
J7-990X @ 4GHz; Motherboard:

Asus Rampage III Formula; RAM:
12GB Crucial DDR3-1 333 (3x
4GB); GPU: Nvidia GeForce GTX
580 (two- and three-way SLI);
Storage: 250GB Intel SSD 510;
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit

A 120mm cooling fan isn't the largest or
slowest-spinning in our roundup, so it's no
surprise to see competing models generating
less noise at idle. At 44.5 dB(A), though, the
TOP-800WS remains whisper-quiet. Really,
our only reservation about Topower's PSU is
its three-year warranty. Competing models
tout five- and seven-year coverage, which
inspires quite a bit more confidence. Even
still, priced under $100, the TOP-800WS is
worthy of consideration.

XFX Pro 850W

XFX is very forthcoming about the way
it tests and rates power supplies. There's
a lot of fudging that goes on in the PSU
business, so it's entirely understandable that
the company is anxious to demonstrate
how its 850 watts are different from the
competition. First, the Pro 850W is rated to
deliver its output at 50 C, a fairly common
temperature inside of your case. Many
other units are rated at far cooler (and less
realistic) temperatures, which help them run
more efficiently. XFX also employs a single
+ 12V rail, driving attached devices from just
one pipeline.

The Pro 850W goes the traditional
route, with all of its cables and connectors

SilverStone also validates the Strider Gold's capabilities in a more
realistic operating environment than many other companies.

CPU/ May 2011 21

permanently attached. Purists will ap-
preciate that approach, since it facilitates
secure connections between the PSU
and peripheral devices, eliminating one
potential failure point. Conversely, this is
going to be a challenge for power users
who prioritize cable management, unless,
of course, you plan to use much of the
Pro 850W's connectivity. In that case,
be ready to attach 1 1 SATA devices,
seven peripherals requiring 4-pin Molex
connectors, a floppy drive, and two
graphics cards with eight- and six-pin
plugs. The cables are long and fairly
flexible, simplifying installation.

As if to make up for the myriad
cables, XFX packs everything into a
form factor much smaller than Zalman's
competing PSU at the same capacity.
The Pro 850W is less than 7 inches long,
compared to the ZM850-HP Plus' 8.5
inches. XFX does sacrifice a little on a
smaller fan, but its 135mm cooler still
does its job well, albeit at slightly higher
noise levels.

Certified for both SLI- and CrossFire-
based graphics subsystems, there's a
lot to like about this affordable power
supply. Its 80 Plus Bronze rating isn't
particularly noteworthy. However,
XFX turns right around and covers the
Pro 850W with a five-year warranty,
indicating the company's confidence
in the way it validates per-formance-
oriented PSUs.

Zalman ZM850-HP Plus

Generally, we expect the fastest parts to
dissipate the most heat and consequently
require aggressive cooling to keep stable.
Zalman showed us that isn't necessarily
true. And so, it's hardly a surprise that the
company's ZM850-HP Plus power supply
drives high-end configurations without
making much noise at all.

A handful of different technologies
contribute to the ZM850-HP Plus' in-
conspicuous presence. Most noticeable
when you peer into the unit are its two
copper heatpipes, which run through
the supply's heatsinks and terminate in
aluminum fin arrays positioned next
to a rear-facing exhaust vent. Air is
pulled through the sink and dissipated
from the power circuitry as quickly as
possible. Of course, it also helps that
Zalman uses a dual-ball bearing 140mm
fan that sits behind a metal grille.

Heat output is further minimized
by the fact that this is a high-efficiency
design. An 80 Plus Silver rating
guarantees at least 88% efficiency at
50% load and 85% efficiency at 20 and
100% load. We tested Zalman's claims
by driving a Core i7-990X-based system
running at 4GHz, along with two
GeForce GTX 580s in SLI. Although
its idle power is slightly higher than
XFX's competing 850W offering, it runs
more efficiently under load and ends up
consuming 21 W less, peaking at 65 5 W.

The ZM850-HP Plus employs four +12V
rails. Strangely, the PSU offers three different
load ratings between them. Two rails are
rated at 25A, the third is rated at 35A, and
the fourth maxes out at 28A. Zalman breaks
down how all four rails are divided up on the
surface of the PSU. Still, we'd prefer a single-
rail design to keep things simpler.

Zalman also chose a semi-modular
design, leaving the ATX, 12V auxiliary
power, and one 6-/6+2-pin combo PCI-E
graphics connector permanently affixed.
An additional two combo graphics
plugs, nine SATA, eight four-pin Molex,
and one floppy power connectors can
be attached modularly. The selection
there is ample. We just wish the cables
were longer and not so stiff. As they
stand, bending the braided sleeves is a
real challenge.

"E" Is For "Efficient"

Power supply efficiency has come a long
way since the last time we evaluated this
many products. Every model represented
boasts an 80 Plus Bronze rating or better,
and performance is remarkably similar
across the board. In order to get the most
out of your favorite unit, shoot for an
output ceiling around two times higher
than your PC's power consumption. That
way, it'll run at roughly 50% load — the
sweet spot for each of these PSUs. ■

by Paul Cross

22 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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HEAVV DEAR

Nvidia GeForce GTX 590

The difference between
Nvidia's original
Fermi GF100 and the
revamped GF110 is night
and day. For Nvidia and AMD,
faster, cooler, and quieter are the
primary design goals when making
a new GPU, and the latest evidence of
Big Green's success is the GeForce GTX
590, the first dual-GPU card from Nvidia
since the GTX 295.

The GTX 590 features two GF110
GPUs, the same engines that power the
fastest single-GPU graphics card on the
planet, the GTX 580. Though it sounds
like an unbeatable recipe, the GTX 580
is a 244-watt card, and Nvidia needed to
make some adjustments in order to run
two of these on the same PCB. The core
and memory clocks were dropped from
772MHz to 607MHz and 1,002MHz
to 854MHz, respectively. The memory
subsystem saw little change: The 384-bit
bus for each GPU still links it to 1.5 GB
of GDDR5 memory for 3GB total.

Two GPUs, One Cool Customer

The GeForce GTX 590 has a 365-
watt TDP, and although Nvidia defines
TDP as the maximum amount of power
the cooler needs to dissipate when running
3D applications, that number requires a
powerful PSU and a pair of 8-pin PCI-E
power adapters. Like AMD did with the
Radeon HD 6990, Nvidia chose to locate
the two GPUs at opposite ends of the PCB,
slap a vapor chamber on top of each, and

Specs: GPU: Dual GF110s; Core clock:
607MHz; Memory: 384-bit bus, 3GB GDDR5
(854MHz); 1,024 CUDA cores; 128 texture
units; 96 ROPs

Test system specs: CPU: 3.33GHz Intel Core
i7-980X; Motherboard: Gigabyte G1 .Sniper
(Intel X58); RAM: 4GB 0CZ DDR3-2000;
Storage: 256GB Plextor PX-256M2S-02 SSD

GeForce GTX 590

$699 I Nvidia
www.nvidia.com

use a centrally located 90mm fan to
blow air over the vapor chambers.
Nvidia's design also features a 12-layer
PCB, with the power and ground layers
consisting of 2 ounces of copper. There's
also a 10-phase digital power controller
feeding juice to the GPUs and a pair
of dual-phase controllers distributing
power to the memory.

Aural & Visual

According to Nvidia, the GTX
590 is quieter than its previous
dual-GPU cards, and only slightly
noisier than the GTX 580. In our
tests, we did notice some extra noise
under load, but it was not much. It
is noticeably quieter than the Radeon
HD 6990, though, which should be
music to gamers' ears.

If two GPUs still aren't enough,
this card is your ideal route to Quad
SLI. Although two GTX 590s will
display across six monitors, three
is the max if you want to keep SLI
enabled. Dual-GPU cards are wasted
on a single monitor, so it's nice to
see Nvidia ponied up on three
Dual-Link DVI ports and a single
mini Display Port on the GTX 5 90's
backplane. You can connect three
3D-capable 120Hz monitors to this
card and enjoy Nvidia 3D Vision
Surround right out of the box. To
make this package even sweeter,
Nvidia just announced that its 3D

Vision kit is now $149 and the active
shutter glasses now have better battery life.

Niche Unleashed

Stacked against AMD's new Radeon
HD 6990, the GTX 590 falls just short
performance- wise. With both cards priced
at a bank-breaking $699, Nvidia appears to
be betting that 3D Vision Surround, PhysX,
CUDA, and less noise offset the measly
performance difference. If you agree, you
might consider par-ticipating in some of the
riskier clinical trials to fund this indulgence.
Do it for the science . . . and the games. ■

by Andrew Leibman

Specs & Scores

Memory Clock
Memory Interface
Memory

3DMark Overall
Graphics Score
Physics Score
Combined Score
Graphics Test 1*
Graphics Test 2*
Graphics Test 3*
Graphics Test 4*

3GB GDDR5

Combined Test

; 16.1

; 11.66

Unigine Heaven

FPS
Score

\ 50.3
! 1266

I 54.2
! 1366

Games

1,920x1,200

Left 4 Dead 2
(8XAA, 16XAF)

Call of Pripyat (4XAA)

Aliens vs. Predator
(4XAA)

(8XAA, 16XAF)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: ] 40.5 \ 40.6

Call of Pripyat (4XAA) \

Aliens vs. Predator I 48.4 I 42.2

(4XAA)

Driver: Catalyst 11.4 Beta, Force Ware 267.71

24 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVV DEAR

AMD Radeon HD 6990

It's no exaggeration to say that AMD's latest
dual-GPU monster, the Radeon HD 6990,
is the fastest graphics card on the planet, but
context is crucial to evaluating what AMD
accomplished with this card.

The former king of the hill, AMD's
dual-GPU HD 5970, features two 40nm
Cypress GPUs down-clocked to keep the
card below the 375 -watt PCI-E spec. The
6990, also sporting a pair of 40nm GPUs,
has double the memory (on the same 256-bit
bus) and an additional 32 texture units.

Between Cypress and Cayman, AMD
also tweaked the graphics architecture,
split the graphics engine in two for
better vertex and geometry performance,
and moved from VLIW5 (Very Long
Instruction Word) to VLIW4-based
design that significantly optimized the
parts of the GPU that worked the hardest.
The revamped SIMDs are capable of
delivering better compute performance
in less space. AMD provided the 6990
with the 6950's 830MHz core clocks, and
the 4GB (2GB per GPU) of GDDR5
memory is clocked at 1,250MHz. And
then there's the second BIOS.

Like the 6970 before it, the 6990
features the same dual-BIOS toggle
switch, questionably dubbed "AUSUM"
(Antilles Unlocking Switch for Uber
Mode) which lets you run an overclocked
profile at the flip of a switch. When set
to the No. 1 position, the Radeon HD
6990 jacks its core clock up to 880MHz
and raises the core voltage from 1.12V
to 1.175V At the overclocked settings,
the 6990 goes from a 375 -watt beast to
a 450-watt monstrosity. To cope, your
system will need to have two 8 -pin PCI-E
power connectors; AMD recommends at
least a 750W PSU to power one 6990.

AMD redesigned the PCB, separated
the GPUs with a large central fan, used
separate vapor chambers, and stuck
them to the die surfaces with a special

phase-change thermal

interface material. AMD
also used a pair of digital
Volterra regulators to
manage power fed to
the GPUs and binned
chips for low leakage and
superior OC headroom.

The backplane features
a single DL-DVI port and
four mini DisplayPorts,
letting you set up a five-
display Eyefinity array.
AMD includes three
miniDP adapters (two
DVI and one HDMI) to
get any three monitors
running in Eyefinity right
out of the box.

At $699, the Radeon
HD 6990 is soul-crushingly
expensive; however, take
a look at the numbers
this card posts. To really
appreciate it, you need to be
running multiple monitors,
and that ain't cheap either.
This single package is
the best-performing card

Specs & Scores

Core Clock
Memory Clock
Memory Interface
Memory
3DMark
3DMark Overall
Graphics Score
Physics Score
Combined Score

Graphics Test 3*

Physics Test*
Combined Test*
Unigine Heaven

Left 4 Dead 2
(8XAA, 16XAF)

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:

Call of Pripyat (4XAA)

Aliens vs. Predator

AMD Radeon HD 6990

$699 I AMD
www.amd.com

around, and it's priced
as such because the
equivalent CrossFireX
configuration with
a pair of 6970s will
set you back roughly
$640 (after rebates).
Oh, and the single-card
performance crown?

AMD still has it. (See page 24 for Nvidias

GeForce GTX 590.) ■

by Andrew Leibman

AMD Radeon ! AMD Radeon
HD 6990 ! HD 6990 OC

1GB GDDR5 \ 2GB GDDR5 \ 2GB GDDR5

Specs: GPU: Dual Cayman XTs; Core clock: 830MHz; Memory: 256-bit bus, 4GB
GDDR5 (1, 250MHz); 3,072 stream processors; 192 texture units; 64 ROPs
Test system specs: CPU: 3.33GHz Intel Core i7-980X; Motherboard:
Gigabyte G1. Sniper (Intel X58); RAM: 4GB 0CZ DDR3-2000; Storage: 256GB
Plextor PX-256M2S-02 SSD

Left 4 Dead 2

(8XAA, 16XAF) I 64.65

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:

Call of Pripyat (4XAA) ! 14.1

Aliens vs. Predator !
(4XAA) ! 15.8

Driver Catalyst 11.4 Beta

CPU/ May 2011 25

HEAVV DEAR

Optoma GT720

Sometimes a monitor can't provide the
most immersive gaming experience.
And that's the first reason any serious
gamer should consider purchasing the
Optoma GT720.

With the proper components, you
can game on the big screen in both
HD and 3D. To view images in 3D,
though, you'll need LCD shutter glasses
and a 3D-capable video card. You'll
probably want to rely on a separate
setup for surround sound, but there are
two integrated 5-watt speakers so you
don't have to subject yourself to a silent
film marathon should you find yourself
without other speakers.

The GT720 is, for all intents and
purposes, a portable plug-and-play model

GT720

Optoma
$749.99
www.optomausa.com

that you can slip into the included nylon
backpack, strap on your back, and carry
with you to any LAN party or friend's
apartment that has a large, white wall. We
simply unpacked the projector, connected
it to a mid-tower PC via VGA (cable not
included), powered it up, and turned it on.
Of course, the GT720 isn't just for Call
of Duty: Black Ops in widescreen. With
the array of video ports, you can connect
the projector to your Blu-ray player, DVD
player, DVR, or other components to
stream HD video and more. In addition to

these capabilities, the GT720 comes with a
remote that's actually helpful, because you
can use it to adjust the many menu options
and tilt the lens up or down.

If the price is holding you back, first
ask your friends to go in on Optoma's
GT720 and host a movie night using
your new projector to raise some well-
invested funds. ■

by Joanna Clay

Specs: Native resolution: 1 ,280 x 800; Brightness: 2,500 ANSI lumens; Contrast ratio: 3,000:1 ; Image size: 34 to 300 inches; Projection distance:
1.64 to 18 feet; Aspect ratio: 16:10 (native); Video compatibility: NTSC, PAL, SECAM, EDTV, HDTV (720i/p, 1080i/p); Lamp life: 5,000/3,000 hours
(standard/bright); Weight: 6.5lbs; Dimensions: 3.82 x 12.76 x 9.21 inches (HxWxD); Ports: HDMI, VGA, S-Video, Composite, audio I/O, RS-232;
remote control; One-year warranty (90-day lamp)

Thermaltake Armor A30

For those who want the compatibility,
capacity, and modularity of an enthusiast
mid-tower but the smaller form factor and
portability of a shoe box-sized system, check
out Thermaltake's A30. Decked out in
wall-to-wall mesh and windows, the A30
fits microATX or Mini-ITX boards. Full-
length graphics cards just miss the 3.5-inch
drive cage, and you can host up to seven
drives, including two internal 2. 5 -inch and
two external 5.25-inch drives. Don't need so
many drives? Feel free to remove the 3.5-inch
cage for improved airflow. The A30 s back
panel offers four ventilated, full-height slots
set within an easily removable drive tray.

For ventilation, the A30 sports a
90mm front intake, 230mm top exhaust,
and a pair of 60mm exhausts in the back.
The low fan hum during operation is

Armor A30

$119.99

Thermaltake

www.thermaltakeusa.com

inconspicuous, and, depending on your
config, you might be able to get away
with disconnecting the two rear fans.

Thermaltake uses rubber grommets in
the 3.5-inch drive cage and rubber pads
under the front of the motherboard.
The front panel's USB 3.0 port still
uses a pass-through to the back
panel so you can loop into the
motherboard's I/O port, but
hey — at least there's a front
USB 3.0 port!
Overall, the aesthetic is tough and
unique. Steel rather than aluminum
construction contributes to the nearly
15-pound weight, which makes us
wish that Thermaltake had designed in
a carrying handle for LAN events, even if
the handle is a clip-on. Nevertheless, this is
a well-built chassis with an attractive set of
compromises between traditional tower and
cube designs. ■

by William Van Winkle

Specs: Material: Steel, plastic; Motherboard support: microATX, Mini-ITX; Bays: 2 5.25-inch external, 2 3.5-inch internal, 1 3.5-inch external, 2 2.5-inch
internal; Slots: 4; Fans: 1 90mm front (blue LED), 1 230mm top (blue LED), 2 60mm rear; Ports: 1 USB 3.0, 1 USB 2.0, 1 eSATA, audio I/O; Dimensions:
10.5x11.5x18 inches (HxWxD); Weight: 1 4.8lbs

26 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVV DEAR

Gigabyte G1 .Sniper

Here's an interesting approach to a gaming
motherboard: Instead of designing the
board for overclocking, build one that has
as many optimized audio and networking
capabilities as possible in addition to support
for powerful graphics and CPUs.

The Gigabyte Gl. Sniper was definitely
developed with the gaming experience
in mind. The onboard audio is handled
by the Creative Sound Blaster X-Fi digi-
tal audio processor along with Dolby
Digital Live (the latter of which encodes
audio in real time), and a built-in front
headphone amplifier.

To help prevent client-based network
lag, the Gl. Sniper has Bigfoot Networks'
Killer E2100 Game Networking Platform

baked in. The platform includes a dedi-
cated NPU (network processing unit) with
1 GB of DDR2 memory, with technology
designed to route some network data to
the NPU rather than the network stack for
a performance boost.

The Gl. Sniper also supports Intel's
latest six-core beast, the Core i7-990X, as
well as 3-way CrossFireX or SLI, 6Gbps
SATA, and USB 3.0.

This board is a performer, and the
bells and whistles contribute to the user
experience in a meaningful way. ■

by Seth Colaner

G1 .Sniper

$449.99
Gigabyte
www.gigabyte.com

Specs: Socket LGA1366; Intel X58 chipset; Max memory: 24GB (DDR3-2200 0C); Slots: 3 PCI-E
x1 6, 2 PCI-E x1 , 1 PCI; Ports: 2 6Gbps SATA, 6 3Gbps SATA, 2 3Gbps eSATA, up to 1 2 USB 2.0,
4 USB 3.0, 2 FireWire, 1 Gigabit Ethernet

Test system specs: CPU: 3.33GHz Intel Core i7-980X; RAM: 4GB OCZ DDR3-2000; Graphics: AMD
Radeon HD 6990; Storage: 256GB Plextor PX-256M2S SSD

Plextor PX-256M2S

Shinano Kenshi's Plextor brand has
long graced optical drives with a loyal
following. Its new M2 Series of 6Gbps
SATA SSDs shows the marque on a more
forward-looking storage medium.

The M2 line is made with MLC NAND
memory and a Marvell 88SS9174 controller.
There's support for the performance-
restoring TRIM command and NCQ.
Plextor also builds in its Unique Instant
Restore Function to maintain speed when
the drive's been used a great deal.

In that vein, our test results reflect a
couple weeks' worth of usage on the PX-
256M2S, being the sole drive in a PC.
Note that performance scales by capacity
in this drive family, especially with
sequential write rates. The 64GB version,

for example, has between half and two-
thirds of the 256GB's rated write speeds.

Retail price for this big drive at launch
was $699.99. As of press time, however, we
found it for more than $100 less online.
A nice, long warranty period and Plextor's
reputation for quality sweeten the deal. ■

by Marty Sems

PX-256M2S

$590 (online)

Plextor

www.plextoramericas.com

Specs: Sequential data transfer ratings: 480MBps read, 330MBps write; Sequential 4KB transfer
ratings: 15,000l0ps read, 9,000IOps write; Cache: 128MB DDR3; Form factor: 2.5-inch; Power
consumption (typical): 0.25W (idle), 0.75W (active); Shock tolerance (0.5 ms) 1.500G; MTBF: 1.5
million hours; Three-year warranty

Benchmark Results

| Gigabyte G1. Sniper

3DMark 11

Overall

\ X3289

Graphics Score

I 3045

Physics Score
Combined Score

\ 8061
" 3461" "

PCMark Vantage Pro

Overall

! 17879

Memories

1 11357

TV And Movies

\ 6958

Gaming

\ "l 8737"

Music

[ _ 1 8033"

Communication.

! 181 01

Productivity

\ 18136 "

HDD"

22893

POV-Ray 3.7*

1554.49 PPS

Cinebench 11.5

CPU**

8.73

Left 4 Dead 2

132.63

Aliens vs. Predator

! 48.4

S.f.A.L.k.E.R~

\ 40.3 "

Call of Pripyat

* pixels per secc

>nd

**points

Games tested a

t 2,560 x 1 ,600.

Benchmark Results

Plextor PX-
256M2S 256GB

Interface

SATA 6Gbps

lometer (lOps)

Workstation
Database

4841
6658

Crystal DiskMark (MBps)

Sequential read

512KB random read \ 279.2

512KB random write ^294

4KB random read QD1 ! 13.3

4KB random write QD1 I 36.2

4KB random read QD32 ; 68.8

4KB random write QD32 j 46.2
PCMark Vantage

HDD score (points) ! 36647

Defender (MBps) I 170.2

Gaming (MBps) ; 144.5

Photo Gallery "(MBps) "; 231

Vista startup (MBps) ! 157.5

Movie Maker edit (MBps) ! 200.6

Win Media Ctr (MBps) "; 297.1

WMP" music" add "(MBps)"; 112.6

App loading (MBps) ! 120.2

NTFS and M
Test system specs: CPU: Intel Core 17-
2600K; Motherboard: Sapphire Pure Black
Hvdra P67; T " " * "~" ~ '

CPU/ May 2011 27

HEAVV DEAR

ZalmanCNPS11X Extreme

The Zalman CNPS11X Extreme CPU
cooler is an unusual-looking beast,
with a V-shape that the company says is
designed for enhanced airflow. Coupled
with its copper composite heatpipes and
copper-and-aluminum heatsink, the
shape results in optimum cooling, with
decreased fan noise.

Or so say the folks over at Zalman,
anyway. As it turns out, they're right.

We checked out the CNPS1 IX Extreme
on a test system running a 3.4GHz Intel
Core i7-2600K on a Sapphire Pure Black
P67 mobo. Not a monster of a system,
but a respectable performer. We warmed
things up by running a series of apps and
games simultaneously and finished off by
using the PCMark Gaming Suite to stress
the system.

With the stock cooler, the CPU at idle
registered a temp of 31 degrees Celsius.
Stressed, the CPU temp jumped to 45 C.

These are certainly acceptable temps, and
we could live with the 45% jump.

But still, we all know that cooler is
better. Would the CNPS11X cool things
down? Oh, yeah.

Running at idle with the Zalman
cooler, the CPU temp was 28 C, or about
10% cooler than
the stock cooler
at idle. When we
loaded the 2600K,
as you'd expect,
the temps jumped

CNPS11X Extreme

$89.99 1 Zalman
www.zalman.com

noticeably — but not as much as we thought
they might. With the CPU under load, the
temp jumped from 28 C to 34 C, or about
21%. That 34 C max is a full 25% cooler
than the stressed system running a stock
cooler. Not bad at all.

The CNPS11X is compatible with a
wide variety of AMD and Intel CPUs,
and features an ultra-quiet 120mm
PWM fan. Most importantly, it
does a great job of keeping your
expensive processor running cool.
And with that V-shape, black
pearl nickel-plated finish, shiny
heatpipes, and blue LED, it looks
cool while it cools. ■

by Rod Scher

Specs: Dimensions: 154 x 80 x 135mm (HxWxD); Weight: 600g; Fan: 120mm, PWM, 1,000 to
1,950rpm, 33dB(A) max sound output; Socket compatibility: Intel LGA775/1 155/1 156/1 366, AMD
AM2/AM2+/AM3

OomaTelo

Most of us have tried Skype, Vonage,
and other VoIP services, but the
call quality varies and the monthly
charges can add up. In the end, we
either do without a landline or we
grudgingly pay The Phone Company
every month for a mediocre phone that
mostly just sits there.

Help is at hand. We checked out the
Ooma Telo Internet phone, which sits
between your modem and your router
(no computer required) and lets you make
Internet-based calls for nothing. (Well,
almost nothing. You do end up having to
pay the applicable taxes, which come to
about $3.50 per month.)

But here's the important thing: The
call quality of the Ooma Telo is as good
or better than anything offered by your
POTS vendor. And it's basically free. You
pay a chunk up front for the device itself,
but that's about it. The Telo generally

pays for itself after several months; from
then on, you're calling all over the United
States for nothing.

The Telo is a router-like affair with a
simple setup: Use its two Ethernet jacks
to connect the Telo between your rout-
er and modem, power it up, then wait
for any firmware updates. There are
two phone jacks. One connects to a
standard telephone, the other
connects to your existing
landline, allowing you
to integrate the
landline and the
Telo, if you wish
to do so (or you
could purchase some
very cool Ooma handsets for

about $50 each). Log on and set up an
account. Start making free calls. You can
select a phone number, or, for a $39.99
fee, port your existing number over to
the Telo.

It's a no-brainer. Buy one. Install it.
Use it to call your POTS vendor and tell
them you quit. ■

by Rod Scher

Ooma Telo

$249.99 I Ooma
www.ooma.com

Specs: Dimensions: 2 x 5.5 x 7.5 inches (HxWxD); Weight: 14.1oz.; Handsets: Supports up to four
Ooma handsets, plus corded or cordless POTS phones; Web access: Requires broadband service;
Other: Supports caller ID, call-waiting, and 91 1 service

28 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Rntec soundscience rockus 3D I S.1 Speakers

5.1 Sound Without The 5.1 Hassle

Gamers focus much of their attention
on achieving the best graphics with
high resolution monitors and the
latest, most powerful graphics cards.
All too often, the audio component is
ignored. Whether it's the crunch of a
hard hit and the 360-degree crowd
noise in a sports game or bombs
dropping and bullets flying in an FPS,
nothing makes a game come to life
more than an immersive surround
sound experience.

Typically, to get that kind of audio, you
need a 5.1- or 7.1-channel system
and the accompanying pile of satellite
speakers and jumble of wires to
carefully place all around the room,
making sure you can run wires to all of
them without creating a tripping hazard.

But the rockus 3D I 2.1 speakers from
soundscience, designed by Antec, can
deliver that 3D sound with just a 2.1
setup and some brilliant engineering.

The speakers feature 3Dsst tech-
nology, which uses a suite of DSP
algorithms to intelligently analyze
incoming audio signals such as
frequency, panning, and positioning of

Subwoofer features support for three input types
for maximum versatility.

sounds, and uses tools such as filtering
and phasing to pump out the sound
in a virtual 3D field, creating a spatial
aural environment with your ears at
the epicenter — perfect for gaming and
watching movies.

Because gaming audio and music
are different animals, soundscience
built multiple audio modes into the
rockus speakers. The compact
remote control pod lets you easily
toggle between 3D and music
modes, the latter delivering a stereo
signal for the ideal balance of highs,
mids, and lows.

The rockus speakers make the most
of their diminutive size. Compact

Control pod adjusts volume, mutes and toggles
between analog and digital input

speakers often lose out on audio quality
due to cheap or weak construction,
but the rockus speakers can crank
out 25W per satellite with a 100W
subwoofer and are built with anodized
aluminum to cut down on vibration and
distortion. The subwoofer also boasts
passive radiator technology, enabling
it to deliver a wide bass range —
especially compared to woofers with
a much larger footprint — as well as
multidirectional output. They really look
and feel as great as they sound.

Great gaming speakers don't have to be
big, require numerous satellite speakers,
and cost an arm and a leg. For $199.99,
you can have an immersive 3D audio
experience with a compact 2.1 system. ■

HEAVV DEAR

Lepa G900

Lepa is a brand that will likely be new
to most of you. Ecomaster, a large
distributor of Enermax power supplies,
started the Lepa brand just recently
with the goal of providing eco-friendly
products — power supplies, cases, and
other peripherals. The Lepa G900, as its
name implies, is a 900-watt power supply,
and, true to the company's goal, it sports
an 80 Plus Gold certification and claimed
93% peak efficiency.

The Lepa G900 is a mostly modular
power supply. The 24-pin ATX, two
6+2-pin PCI-E, and two EPS 12V moth-
erboard connectors are hard-wired. The
unit is relatively compact at about 7.2
inches deep, and it has a subdued matte
black finish, accented by a 139mm gold
cooling fan on the bottom and yellow
decals and branding. All of the cables are

braided, and the unit itself feels heavy
and well-built.

Performance of the
Lepa G900 was also
solid. We hammered
on the Lepa G900
with a rig powered
by two 6-core Xeon
5680s, Evga's 2P Clas-
sified SR-2 moth-
erboard, 12GB of RAM,
dual 2GB Radeon HD
5870s, and multiple hard
drives and SSDs; the PSU never
faltered. Even after stressing the unit
with 810W+ load for an extended period,
it remained perfectly stable. It's also worth
noting that unit's 139mm cooling fan
pushed plenty of air and remained quiet
throughout testing.

The Lepa brand is new, so it will take
time to build a solid reputation with
enthusiasts, but the G900 is certainly

G900

$179.99

Lepa

www.lepatek.com

a step in the right direction. The unit
is nice and quiet, and performance was
top notch. And, at about $180, the Lepa
G900 is competitively priced. ■

by Marco Chiappetta

Specs: 900W continuous output; Active PFC; 80 Plus Gold; 4 +1 2V rails (30A/rail); 1 39mm fan; 6 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors; Semi-modular cables; Three-year warranty

NZXT H2

NZXT has released some very well-
designed cases the last few years, but
its newest offering, the H2, may just take
the cake. The NZXT H2 is a mid- tower
targeted at gamers looking to build a
quiet, yet high-performing system that
also has some aesthetic appeal.

The NZXT H2, available in black or
white, has simple, clean lines. In fact,
with the exception of a few raised ridges
along the top and an angled design
element at the bottom of the hinged front
door, the H2 is as rectangular as they
come. The fit and finish is very good,
however, and its modest adornments give
it an elegant appearance that's sure to
have mass appeal.

The H2 may be rather conservative in
the looks department, but it's overloaded

$99.99 I NZXT I www.nzxt.com

with features. You'll find
sound dampening material
on its side panels and
the inside of its front
door. The three included
case fans are also quiet;
they're linked to a three-
channel fan controller
mounted in the top
panel. The two front-
mounted 120mm fans
are easily removable
from the outside of the
H2, giving users access to
the case's eight internal 3. 5 -inch
hard drive bays (all of which can be
converted to 2. 5 -inch bays).

Other standout accoutrements of the
NZXT H2 include a top-panel USB

3.0 port and hot-swappable
drive bay. There's also
a magnetic cover to
shield and quiet a top-
mounted fan (although
a fan isn't included)
and direct airflow
out the back. A mesh
bottom panel allows
for easy air intake.

The H2 isn't quite as
roomy as some other
mid-towers that have
fewer drive bays, but
there's still plenty of
room to get the job
done. The NZXT H2
is a well-thought-out
case that offers some features
typically reserved for pricier products. ■

by Marco Chiappetta

Specs: Chassis: Steel; Motherboard support: microATX, ATX; Bays: 3 5.25-inch external, 8 3.5-inch internal + 1 external top-mounted tray; Slots: 7;
Dimensions: 18.2 x 8.5 x 20.3 inches (HxWxD); Fans: 2 120mm front, 1 120mm rear, 1 120mm top (optional)

30 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVV DEAR

MSI N550GTX-TJ Cyclone II

GeForce MSI N550GTX-

GTX550Ti Ti Cyclone II

Nvidia throws a bone to budget gamers
with its latest GPU, the GF116,
which is an evolution of the GF106
that went into the GeForce GTS 450.
Compared to its predecessor, the GTX
550 Ti features the same 192 CUDA
cores and 32 texture units, but has 50%
more ROPs, 24. Nvidia also tweaked the
core clock from 783MHz to 900MHz.
Many of the same tweaks that improved
the performance-per-watt ratio in Fermi
2.0 also make their way to the GF116,
including less leaky transistors.

The standout feature of MSFs take on
the GTX 550 Ti is the circular Cyclone
II cooler, which, according to MSI, offers
20% more airflow and lets the GPU
run 22 degrees (Celsius) cooler than
the reference design under load. MSI's
specially designed fan blades accomplish
this feat by channeling air in a wider
arc. As a result, MSI had a large thermal

envelope to work with, so the core and
memory are overclocked to 950MHz
and 1,075MHz, respectively. Other
things we liked are the high-quality
components, such as solid caps and
chokes, and the inclusion of MSI's
Afterburner overclocking utility.

As you can see from the tests, this card
isn't exactly a benchmark buster, but it
will bring higher frame rates to gamers
running medium resolutions, such as
1,680 x 1,050 or less. MSI's version,
paired with Afterburner, has what it takes
to give you an extra edge. ■

by Andrew Leibman

N550GTX-Ti
Cyclone II

$154.99

MSI

us.msi.com

Sapphire Pure Black P67 Hydra

Memory clock 900MHz 1,075MHz

Memory interface 192-bit 192-bit

Memory 1GBGDDR5 1GBGDDR5
3DMark 11 Pe

3DMark Overall P2480 P2607

Graphics Score 2211 2329

Physics Score 7981 8059

Combined Score 2214 2329

Graphics Test 1* 10.44 11

Graphics Test 3* 13.84 14.49

Graphics Test 4* 6.48 6.84

Physics Test* 25.34 25.59

Combined Test* 10.3 10.83

Games

Left 4 Dead 2 54.57 55.96

(8XAA, 16XAF)

~ST.A~LK.E~R.: ~1~6~7 ~ ~ ~ 176

Call of Pripyat

(4XAA)

Aliens vs. Predator 17.9 18.6

(4XAA)

Driver: Catalyst 11.4 Beta

Test System Specs: Processor: 3.4GHz Intel Core

i7-2600K; Intel DP67BG Motherboard; RAM: 4GB OCZ

Platinum XTE DDR3-2000; Hard drive: 256GB Plextor

PX-M2 SSD; PSU:AntecTruePowerQuattro 1200

*Results in fps.

1,920x1,200

Sapphire's Pure Black P67 Hydra
features a Lucid Hydra chip that lets
Nvidia and AMD graphics cards work
together, making this board a great choice
for those who want future flexibility to
blend graphics card brands. The top PEG
slot provides full xl6 speed, while slots
two and three are x8 links; the bottom
slot runs at x4 speed.

Overclockers will appreciate the Pure
Black P67 Hydra's included voltage
measurement pads, which can provide
readouts to a digital multimeter. The power
and reset buttons each have an informative
LED that indicates if the board is receiving
power and blinks for hard drive activity,
respectively. There's also a diagnostic LED

that can display error codes and functions
as a CPU temperature monitor. We like
the board layout; the space around the
CPU let us install a large CPU air cooler
with relative ease.

The board Pure Black P67 Hydra
performed admirably with our system
tests, too. We'd recommend it for those
in the market for a P67-based board. ■

by Nathan Lake

Pure Black P67 Hydra

$249

Sapphire

www.sapphiretech.com

Specs: Chipset: Intel P67; Form Factor: ATX; Memory: Up to 16GB (DDR3-1600+); Ports: Gigabit
Ethernet, 8 USB 2.0, 2 USB 3.0, 1 FireWire, 1 S/PDIF coaxial/optical out, 1 eSATA, audio I/O,
Bluetooth 2.1 ; Internal headers: 2 USB 2.0, 7 6Gbps SATA; Slots: 4 PCI-E 2.0 x16, 2 PCI
Test system specs: CPU: Intel Core J7-2600K; GPU: ATI Radeon HD 6850; RAM: 4GB Crucial
Ballistix DDR3-1 333; Storage: 250GB Western Digital Scorpio Blue; PSU: Corsair HX1 000

Benchmark Results

3DMark Overall
Graphics Score
Physics Score
Combined Score
PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0

TV And Movies

Communications
Productivity

Sapphire Pure
Black P67

HDD

4050

Cinebench 11.5

CPU*

6.64

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta**

1162.59

Aliens vs. Predator (8XAA)

18.3

* points

* minutes: seconds

Games tested at 2,560 x 1 ,600.

CPU/ May 2011 31

HEAVV DEAR

In Win BUC

Case aesthetics are so subjective. While
I prefer smooth, clean lines, I can
see how other gamers might favor the
fluorescent yellow-and-black motif that
In Win's BUC flaunts. Entirely matte
black on the outside and peppered with
strategic ventilation, it's clear that In
Win's focus here is on lots of airflow and
more edgy lines. Inside the case, you'll
find the bright yellow highlights, from
fan blades to removable drive trays.
Though the chassis' top and front are
molded plastic, the side panels and
interior skeleton are made of scratch- and
fingerprint-resistant steel.

The BUC is a mid-tower design ca-
pable of taking standard ATX plat-
forms with seven expansion slots. Its
motherboard tray isn't removable, but
there are plenty of holes to simplify
cable routing and heavy-duty heatsink
installation. You'll find enough room for

three external 5.25-inch drives
and one external 3.5-inch
device. In Win builds in five
internal 3.5-inch hard drive
bays, too. Impressively, the trays
also include cutouts for 2. 5 -inch
SSDs. Integrated power and data
connectors make it easy to slide
drives in and out of the cage at will.

Internal storage connectors built into
four of the drive cage's bays are entwined
with cables for the case's front-panel
connectivity, which include an eSATA
port, two USB 2.0 ports, plus mic and
headphone jacks. In Win even had the
forethought to include an accessible USB
3.0 port. Our only critiques are that, first, the
connector is nearly hidden in one side of the

BUC

\g $110 I In Win

www.inwin-style.com

top-mounted tray, and

second, it's powered by

an external cable that

plugs into the back of

your motherboard.

Our sample came
armed with three 120mm
fans, located on the front,
back, and top of the case. There are also
several other available fan positions,
facilitating as much airflow as your
high-end hardware needs. ■

by Paul Cross

Specs: Chassis: Steel; Motherboard support: ATX, mATX; Bays: 3 5.25-inch external, 1
external, 5 3.5-inch internal; Slots: 7; Dimensions: 19.1 x 8.3 x 19.9 inches (HxWxD);
120mm front, 1 120mm rear, 1 120mm top

iStarUSA BPN-DE340SS

j StarUSA offers a veritable buffet of en-
I closures for rackmounts, desktops, and
towers and doesn't skimp on its selection
of internal hard drive cages, either. We
took a look at the sharp-looking BPN-
DE340SS trayless HDD cage, which is
outfitted with four hot-swappable drive
bays that can accommodate 3.5-inch
drives at 6Gbps SATA speeds, all wrapped
in a brushed aluminum shell.

Each bay door swings on a durable
hinge. At the back of each bay is an
ejection mechanism that resembles a
pinball machine flipper. And don't worry
about accidentally swinging a door open
and kicking out a drive: As a safeguard,
each bay door has its own lock, and
iStarUSA includes a pair of keys.

iStarUSA includes dedicated SATA
ports for each bay and tosses in four
long SATA cables. The BPN-DE340SS
requires two SATA power plugs and

supports,
in addition
to 6Gbps
SATA,
legacy
SATA and
3/6Gbps
SAS trans-
fer rates.

A single
80mm fan
is attached

to the back of the enclosure to provide
cooling. The fan is detachable, in case you
don't quite have enough clearance to install
the BPN-DE340SS in your system (which,
by the way, will require three 5.25-inch
bays). A two-speed fan controller is located

BPN-DE340SS

$110.46 I iStarUSA
www.istarusa.com

on the back of the
cage, too.

We received the
sleek, all black unit,
but iStarUSA also
makes three sister
models with blue, red,
and silver bay doors.
The BPN-DE340SS needs an additional
RAID controller for RAID configuration,
but on the whole, this heavy-duty storage
station gets the job done. ■

by Joanna Clay

Specs: Material: Aluminum; Bays: 4 3.5-inch hot-swap; Fan: 1 80mm rear; Dimensions: 4.92 x 5.71
x 7.79 inches (HxWxD), requires 3 5.25-inch bays for installation; HDD compatibility: Up to 3TB;
Ports: 2 15-pin SATA power, 4 7-pin SATA data

32 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HEAVV DEAR

Geekbox Ego Maniacal v1 .0

I think I just fell in love. She was dressed in
stately white with black accents all about,
tall yet streamlined, gorgeous yet functional,
sophisticated yet more than willing to get
her hands dirty I'm talking of Geekbox
Computers' Ego Maniacal, a custom-built,
liquid-cooled, benchmark-crushing beauty
that Geekbox CEO Adrian Hunter hopes
"establishes us as a premier boutique in
this industry" and that to the "trained eye
dominates the harsh competition in the
system builder market."

The system impresses in nearly every
facet, including aesthetics, craftsmanship,
performance, and value for the money.
Overall, it's abundantly clear that great
attention was paid to each design aspect,
as the positioning of the radiator and
other plumbing parts, hand crimping
and sleeving, meticulous cable routing,
and color scheme indicate. Geekbox even
tore down the system's five 120mm fans,
including the four butting against the
horizontally oriented radiator at the case's
bottom, to paint the blades white, enlist
new black Molex connectors everywhere,
and desolder the original fan wiring for
new soldered wire cut to length.

The Ego Maniacal isn't lacking for
components, either. Working on a Giga-
byte GA-P67A-UD7 motherboard is
an Intel Core i7-2600K overclocked to
4.84GHz, three Evga GeForce GTX
570s in SLI, 8GB of Mushkin Blackline
DDR3-1866, a 128GB Crucial RealSSD,
2TB of WD storage, and a Corsair
AX1200 PSU all running on Windows
7 Professional 64-bit. Port-wise, you
get six USB 3.0, four USB 2.0, two
FireWire, two eSATA/USB, two Gigabit
Ethernet, S/PDIF out, and six audio
jacks. Uniquely, Geekbox's liquid-cooling
approach, which includes a sparkling
CPU block and matching hose fittings
and white-tinted tubing (no dye used),
uses a home-brewed liquid Geekbox dubs
"Newbie Tears" ("our system runs on the
tears of newbs," Hunter jokes) that won't
deteriorate loop internals.

Geekbox wraps the components inside
Silverstone's new windowed, all-aluminum,
rivet- free Temjin Series TJ11 case, which
dons an elegant custom dual-state metallic-
white paint job. The case itself is awesome
on many fronts, including for the ample
room provided to add drives (nine 5.25-
inch and six 3.5-inch bays). Also onboard
are dual 180mm Air Penetrator exhaust
fans (700 or l,200rpm), including one
sitting directly below the graphics cards;
dual see-through air vents on each side
panel; nine top-located expansion slots;
and more. Potential sticking points could
be that the front and back panels lack any
ports, leaving the top panel overloaded.

Performance-wise, the Ego Maniacal's
benchmark results pretty much say it all.
The system powered through S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:
Call of Pripyat (60.58fps) and Aliens vs.
Predator (64.1fps) and showed considerable
all-around prowess in PCMark Vantage
Pro with a 26,393 Overall mark. This rig
doesn't just roll along; it steamrolls. Better, it
steamrolls especially quietly.

With the Ego Maniacal, Geekbox hopes
to offer the general public a boutique
experience that echoes the inspiration it has
drawn from the systems VoodooPC and
various European and U.S. underground
modding communities produced. Based on
our experience, Geekbox has succeeded. ■

by Blaine Flamig

Ego Maniacal v1.0

$5,499 I Geekbox
www.geekbox.com

Geekbox Ego
Maniacal v1.0

Benchmark Results

Graphics Score
Physics Score
Combined Score
Graphics Test 1*
Graphics Test 2*
Graphics Test 3*
Graphics Test 4*
Physics Test*
Combined Test*
PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0.2

TV And Movies

Communications

Processor Arithmetic

DhrystoneALU(GIPS)
Whetstone iSSE3 (GFLOPS)
Processor Multi-Media
x16 iSSE4.1 (Mpixels/s)
x8 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s)
x4 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s)
Memory Bandwidth

Floating-Point Buffered
iSSE2 (GBps)
Media Transcode

Transcode H264 (ME ,
Cinebench 11.5

CPU** t 9.31

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta*** ; 1645.0

Aliens vs. Predator (4XAA) ; 64.1

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: CoP (4XAA) ; 60.58
Games tested at 2,560 x 1 ,600.

***pixels per second

Specs: CPU: Intel Core \7 2600K @ 4.84GHz;
RAM: 8GB Mushkin Blackline DDR3-1866;
GPU: Evga GeForce GTX 570 (3-Way SLI);
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P67-UD7; Storage:
128GB Crucial SSD, 2TB WD (RAID 0); OS:
Windows 7 Professional 64-bit

CPU/ May 2011 33

HEAVV DEAR

Thermaltake Level 1 GT

Thermaltake's original Level 10 chassis is
a head-turner, but at $799.99 its price
draws as many double takes as its bold design.

Since its debut, many a power user found
himself wishing for the Level 10's visual
punch, only in a less expensive, more compact
chassis. Thermaltake obliged and even added
a few modern perks, including USB 3.0,
E-ATX support, and room for ultra-long
PSUs and 360mm (1 4.2-inch) graphics cards.

The new Level 10 GT, made of steel with
plastic accoutrements, costs much less than
its more sculpted, aluminum big brother. It's
lighter, too, at 28 pounds. Its distinctive carry
handle is functional, and there's terrific cable
management potential inside.

The GT provides more pragmatic ven-
tilation than the earlier Level 10, which
segregates its major parts groups. In the GT,
big, quiet fans benefit every component
with airflow and selectable LED coloration.
The filtered, scalloped side fan even has an

Level 10 GT

$279.99

Thermaltake

www.thermaltakeusa.com

externally adjustable louver, so you can direct
its cool air at your graphics card(s).

We've built a few systems in the original
Level 10, which has its share of quirks. This
new GT, although not tool-less, seems much
friendlier during a build. That said, the GT's
hot-swappable drive caddies (which support
2.5- and 3.5-inch SSDs as well as hard
drives) can be a bear to remove.

Even a third of the big Level 10's price
is a bit much to pay for a case, especially
one that doesn't come with a primo power
supply. Still, the stylish GT has the oversized
parts support and heat evacuation skills to
cover some pretty wild builds. ■

by Marty Sems

Specs: Case type: Full tower; Dimensions: 23 x 1 1 .1 x 23.2 inches (HxWxD); Motherboard
compatibility: ATX, mATX, E-ATX; Bays: 4 5.25-inch external, 5 3.5/2.5-inch internal, 1 3.5-inch
external; Expansion slots: 8; Standard fans: 1 200mm front, 1 200mm side, 1 200mm top, 1 140mm
rear; Optional fans: 1 120mm bottom; Top ports: 2 USB 3.0, 1 eSATA; Front ports: 4 USB 2.0, audio I/O

Sapphire Pure Fusion Mini E350

The Pure Fusion Mini E350 is based
on AMD's Zacate E-350 APU, but
Sapphire installed a variety of connectivity
hardware not found on the stock Fusion
design, including USB 3.0 support, an
eS ATA port, integrated Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR
connectivity, and an extra 6Gbps SATA port.
We particularly like the integrated Bluetooth
connectivity for wireless transfer of content
on our mobile phones. The wealth of
speedy input/output options is also handy
for those who regularly transfer files. Note
that Sapphire opted to use two DDR3 SO-
DIMM memory slots.

Gaming scores for the Pure Fusion
Mini E350 are relatively high for a
Mini-ITX system, meaning performance
should be suitable enough to play older
games and somewhat lower resolutions.

Similarly, Sandra's Processor Arithmetic
scores relatively high marks for a low-
watt processor, meaning that applications
will be slightly snappier than what you've
experienced on netbooks and other SFF
systems. Where the Pure Fusion Mini
E350 really excels is media playback.
Blu-ray content played flawlessly, as did
HD video.

If you're looking to build an SFF media
PC, this board is a great start. ■

by Nathan Lake

Pure Fusion
Mini E350 ;

$139.99
Sapphire
www.sapphiretech.com

Benchmark Results ■ Sapphire Pure

; Fusion Mini E350

3DMark 11 Ent

3DMark Overall ; E730

Graphics Score ! 716

Physics Score \ 550

Combined Score \ 417

Graphics Test 1 ; 3.98

Graphics Test 2 j 3.61

Graphics Test 3 \ 3.67

Graphics Test 4 \ 2.07

Physics Test ; 1.75

PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0

TV And Movies

Communications
Productivity

SiSoft Sandra 2011
Processor Arithmetic

Dhrystone ALU "(GIPS)
Whetstone
iSSE3 (GFLOPS)
Processor Multi-Media
x8 iSSE3 (Mpixels/s)
x8 iSSSE2 (Mpixels/s)
x4 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s)
Memory Bandwidth
Integer Buffered
iSSE2 (GBps)
Floating-Point Buffered
iSSE2 (GBps)
Media Transcode
Transcode WMV (KBps)
Transcode H264 "(KBps)"
Cinebench 11.

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta** ; 98.05

Aliens vs. Predator (8XAA) j 5.1
S.f.A.L.k.E.R.: CoP (4xAA) i 5.6

* points

** pixels per second

Games tested at 1 ,280 x 720.

Test system specs: RAM: 2GB Hynix DDR3-
1066 S0-DIMM: Hard Drive: 250GB Western
Digital Scorpio Blue; PSU: Corsair HX1000
Specs: Chipset: E-350 APU; Form factor: Mini-ITX;
Max memory: 4GB (DDR3-1066 S0-DIMM); Ports:
Gigabit Ethernet, 2 USB 3.0, 4 USB 2.0, 5 6Gbps
SATA, 1 eSATA, HDMI, DVI, VGA, S/PDIF optical out;
Slots: 1 PCI-E x1 6,1 Mini PCI-E x1

34 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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HARD HAT AREA

PC MDDDER

ocKing

Souped-Up Sandy Bridge Blows Up Benchmarks

I ntel's Sandy Bridge-based second-gen
I Core processor family arrived back
in January to much fanfare. The new
processors offered significant performance
gains over the previous generation, an
integrated graphics core that was head and
shoulders above anything Intel had offered
before, lightning-fast video encoding, and
impressively low power consumption. Save
for a few quibbles here and there, it seemed
that Intel had hit one out of the ballpark.

A few weeks after launch, however,
troubling news of a defect in the 6 Series
chipset that affected the reliability of its
3Gbps SATA ports halted shipments and
forced a recall — highly disappointing for
enthusiasts itching to upgrade, to say the
least. The problem was immediately
identified and quickly remedied, though,
and by the time you read this, motherboards
based on the fixed B3 revision of the 6 Series
chipsets should be plentiful on store shelves.
Let the upgrades begin!

Now that Intel has ironed out Sandy
Bridge's initial wrinkles, we thought
it was the perfect time to find out what
the platform could really do. Armed with
the fastest Sandy Bridge-based processor
available, the Core i7-2600K, and an
enthusiast-class motherboard from Asus,
the P8P67 Deluxe, we set out to overclock
the 2600K using nothing but air-cooling.

OC Prerequisites

There are a few things prospective
Sandy Bridge overclockers need to know.
First, much of what we've all learned about
overclocking with older parts is no longer
relevant. Intel has made some changes to
the platform that make BCLK adjustments
next to useless. The current D2-stepping
processors don't react well to sub-zero temps

For about $330, the Intel Sandy Bridge-based
Core i7-2600K quad-core processor represents
an excellent value for performance-conscious
enthusiasts. With decent cooling, some tweaking
know-how, and a little bit of luck, an overclocked
Core i7-2600K can perform on par with or even
better than Intel's current flagship 6-core processor,
the Core i7-990X.

or super-high voltages, and disabling sleep
states or Turbo Boost isn't necessary. In
fact, it's the Turbo Boost settings that need
to be altered to overclock a Sandy Bridge
processor. At this time, users must also have
a P67-chipset based motherboard, preferably
targeted at enthusiasts, to overclock a Sandy
Bridge CPU like the Core 17-2600K. The
other members of the 6-series
chipset family simply don't
allow it at this time.

For the largest speed gains,
Sandy Bridge overclockers
must also opt for a K series, or
fully unlocked, CPU. Non-K
series parts are only partially
unlocked and can't be pushed
nearly as far with the limited
multiplier and BCLK setting;
currently available.

With the relative immaturity of the
platform, it's also very important to stay up
to date with EFI or BIOS updates. With
the Asus motherboard we used for this
project, each successive EFI update changed
the overclocking characteristics, and some
of the updates even had features specifically
designed to boost the overclocking capa-
bilities. Motherboard manufacturers are still
mastering the inner workings of the Sandy
Bridge platform, so keeping the mobo up to
date is definitely a good idea.

Finally, as has always been the case, good
cooling is also a must. Sandy Bridge-based
processors are particularly power-efficient and
have fine-grained clock-gating capabilities,
though; you may be surprised how far the
chips can be pushed with nothing but a
quality air cooler. To prove this point, we
stuck with Intel's XTS100H cooler, which
ships with K series Sandy Bridge processors.

Mod Mania

With many of the enthusiast-class
P67-motherbaords on the market, you
can overclock Sandy Bridge processors
a couple of ways. On our P8P67 Deluxe,
for example, the main BIOS screen has a
simple performance option that, with

The Intel XTS100H tower-type
cooler included with Socket
LGA1 155 Core i5 and Core
i7 K series processors
does a respectable job of
keeping CPU temperatures
in check. Using this "stock"
cooler, we were able to
pushaCorei7-2600Ktoover
4.6GHz with perfect stability
and zero throttling.

36 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

PC MDDDER

a simple click of a button, will
push the processor up a few ticks
when Turbo is engaged. For
more granular control, though,
manually manipulating some
settings is the way to go.

For a straight-up CPU over-
clock, you'll need to alter the
following three settings: peak
Turbo Boost multiplier, CPU
core voltage, and, for a bit

more performance, the BCLK.

Admittedly, BCLK adjustments
will offer only minor boosts because
most Sandy Bridge processor and P67
motherboard combinations won't hit BCLK
frequencies higher than about 105MHz,
a paltry 5% increase over the default. For
more aggressive overclocks, you can adjust
memory frequencies with K series processors
and, of course, a number of motherboard-
level components can also be tweaked in an
attempt to eke out a little more performance.

By default, the Core i7-2600K has a base
multiplier of 34, for a standard frequency
of 3.4GHz (34 x 100MHz) and a peak
Turbo Boost frequency of 3.8GHz, which
is attained by boosting the multiplier to
38. With K series Sandy Bridge processors,
although a peak Turbo Boost multiplier
of up to 57 is available (for a technical
peak of 5.7GHz), you're not likely to hit
speeds that high without some exotic system
mods. To overclock the Core i7-2600K,
all that is necessary is to increase the peak
Turbo multiplier until the maximum stable
frequency is reached.

In addition to adequate cooling,
overclocking Sandy Bridge-based
processors at this time requires one
more thing: a P67-based motherboard
designed with overclocking in
mind. There are a number of quirks
associated with overclocking Sandy
Bridge-based processors, and if the
motherboard isn't designed to cope
with them, keeping a system stable
will be difficult.

For our mod, we first entered the moth-
erboard's EFI configuration menus and
boosted the processor's voltage to 1.35V, a
0.16V bump from the stock voltage. If you
want to test the waters with voltages higher
than that, we'd suggest using high-end air- or
liquid-cooling. With the voltage increased,
we bumped the Turbo multiplier to 40, then
booted Windows and looped Cinebench
11.5 to fully tax the processor at 4GHz to
check for stability. We were good to go, so we
re-booted again, raised the multiplier further,
and ultimately found a multiplier of 46, for
an effective top speed of 4.6GHz, was our
max. At 47, the system wasn't perfectly stable.

At that point, we backed
the multiplier down to 45 and
began to adjust the BCLK.
The BCLK topped out at only
103MHz, for a final peak clock
speed of 4.64GHz. We could
have stopped with the multiplier
set to 46, but by altering the
BCLK, even if only a little bit, we
ultimately ended up with a higher
peak overclock and a slight boost

to memory bandwidth. (Altering

the CPU multiplier alone won't
affect memory performance.)

Sandy Bridge Rocks

Although the overclocking process for
Sandy Bridge is somewhat different than
previous generations, it's still quite easy,
and the performance gains can be massive.
Making a $330 quad-core processor
outperform a $1,000 6-core Intel CPU
required nothing more than a good
motherboard and the stock Intel cooler.

Sandy Bridge may not offer all of
the overclocking freedom of older Intel
platforms, but there's still plenty of fun to
be had and performance to be gained. ■

by Marco Chiappetta

Many enthusiast-class P67-based motherboards
are outfitted with EFI (Extensible Firmware Interface),
which is a replacement for the aging system BIOS.
Some of the EFI configuration menus on these
enthusiast-class boards offer simple one-click
overclocking options.

No "K"? Still (Sort Of) OK!

There is a widespread miscon-
ception that Intel has locked down
non-K series Sandy Bridge-based
processors to prevent overclocking.
The confusion partially stems from
the fact that Intel has integrated
a PLL/clock generator, which
historically used to reside on
the motherboard as a separate
component, into the 6 Series chipset
die. That PLL is used to derive the
default 100MHz BCLK of Sandy
Bridge-based processors, but due

to a number of factors, its speed
cannot be increased much past the
stock 100MHz. Reports vary on the
max BCLK users have been able to
hit reliably, but 103 to 105MHz is
usually possible. Anything higher
than that is a crapshoot.

In conversations with represen-
tatives from Intel, though, the com-
pany has stated that the limited
freedom with regard to BCLK
adjustments may change with future
versions of the 6 Series chipsets

Ige processor
revisions. For now, overclocking via
BCLK adjustments will yield minimal
benefits, but there is hope this will
change at some point in the future.
Overclocking isn't completely out
of the question with non-K series
Sandy Bridge-based processors,
however. Non-K series chips that
support Intel's Turbo Boost technology
are actually somewhat unlocked,
just not to the extent of K SKUs. Intel
calls the chips "limited unlocked."

What these CPUs allow you to do
is increase the peak Turbo Boost
frequency by up to four speed bins.
For example, if a Core i5-2500
has a default clock of 3.3GHz and
a peak Turbo Boost frequency of
3.7GHz, increasing the peak Turbo
multiplier from 37 to 41 will result
in a maximum frequency of 4.1GHz.
That's nowhere near as high as K
series processors have been known
to overclock, but speeds greater than
4GHz are nothing to scoff at. ~

CPU/ May 2011 37

HARD HAT AREA

PC MDDDER

Performance: Before & After The Mod

We ran a handful of popular
applications and benchmarks
to see just how much additional
performance we were able to
extract from our overclocked
Core i7-2600K-based system.
In the chart presented here, we
have benchmark scores from
the following three test-bed
configurations: the stock Core
J7-2600K, the Core J7-2600K

overclocked to 4.64GHz, and Intel's
current flagship Core i7-990X six-core
processor running at its stock speeds.
The numbers tell an interesting
story. Obviously, overclocking the
Core i7-2600K to 4.64GHz re-
sulted in some large performance
gains. The overclocked processor
outpaced its stock counterpart by
margins ranging from 13.3% to
42.47%. The smallest qains were

realized in the SiSoft Sandra
memory bandwidth benchmark
and in the less taxing LAME
MT encoding tests. The gaming
tests and processor-intensive
rendering benchmarks showed
the largest improvements.

Comparing the performance of
our overclocked Core i7-2600K
to the Core i7-990X processor
proves that you don't need to

spend $1 ,000 on a CPU to have the
fastest rig on the block. Although
it wasn't a clean sweep, the over-
clocked quad-core Core i7-2600K
was faster than the six-core
Core i7-990X in four of the eight
benchmarks we ran, and in three of
the tests where the Core i7-2600K
trailed Intel's flagship, the delta
separating the two processors was
less than 5%. _

Memory Frequency
SiSoft Sandra

Processor Arithmetic

Dhrystone iSSE4.2
Whetstone iSS
Processor Multimedia

Corei7-2600K@ ! Overclocked Speeds Core \ Corei7-990X@

Percent Difference • Percent Difference

3.3GHz/3.8GHz i I7-2600K @ 4.64GHz

1, 333MHz

1, 374MHz

137.5 GIPS
83.13 GFLOPS

181 .73 GIPS
110.41 GFLOPS

Integer x1 6 iSSE4.1 j 201 .54 Mpi

Floating Point x8 iSSE2 I 1 53.6 Mpix

Memory Bandwidth (GBps)
Integer Buffered iSSE2 I 16GBps

Floating Point Buffered iSSE2 j16.16GBps
Futuremark 3DMarl
CPU Benchmark j 6,788

LAME MT MP3 Encoding (minutes:s
Single-threaded I 0:31

Multi-threaded I 0:20

nebench R1

201 .54 Mpixels/s i 267 Mpixels/s
153.6 Mpixels/s I 203 Mpixels/s

18.3GBps
18.31 GBps

3.46GHz/3.73GHz (Mod vs. Stock)

1, 333MHz I 3%

153 GIPS
108.52 GFLOPS

279.65 Mpixels/s j 32.4%
209.14 Mpixels/s I 32.2%

20GBps

-22.58%
-20.00%

(Mod vs. Core J7-990X)

-29.41%
-23.81%

6,528.47

6,554.31

Multi-threaded i 4,949.54 i 6,528.47 i 6,554.31 i 31.90% i -0.39%

Crysis SP Dei.

CPU test (800 x 600, low j 1 78.36 j 254.1 1 j 251 .97 j 42.47% j 0.85%

quality)

Test Systems

Intel Core I7-990X: Motherboard: Gigabyte EX58-UD5 (X58 Express); GPU: GeForce GTX 280; RAM: 6GB (3 x 2GB) 0CZ DDR3-1333; Storage WD Raptor
150GB HD, Windows 7 Ultimate x64

Intel Core i7-2600K: Motherboard: Asus P8P67 Deluxe (P67 Express); GPU: GeForce GTX 280; RAM: 8GB (2 x 4GB) Patriot DDR3-1333; Storage: WD
Raptor 150GB HD, Windows 7 Ultimate x64

* Lower scores equal better performance.

38 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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Have a computer mod
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and a description to
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system in our "Mad
Reader Mod" section,
we'll send you $1,500
and a one-year
subscription to CPU.

HARD HAT AREA

PC MDDDER

MAD READER MOD

Lenovo K320 Ice

very month as we sift through
I the packed MadReaderMocto

cpumag.com inbox, we see lots
of black steel and brushed alu-
minum, and we even see a fair
amount of custom wood cases and a bit of
carbon fiber here and there. We of course
love all that stuff, but once in a while some-
thing comes along that pushes the envelope
a bit; James "JJ_Sky5000" Fislar's Lenovo
K320 Ice is just such a mod.

Prior to building the K320 Ice, Fislar
had been attempting to build a case from
resin, with less than spectacular results.
He managed to piece together a Mini-ITX
case in 2009, but Fislar says "it was very
sticky and was very bendable." Back to the
drawing board.

In 2010, he finally had success with
an SFF mold, and this drove him to at-
tempt a bigger version. He understood
how to create the ice effect he was after,
but he knew doing a full-sized case would
be expensive. That's when he came across
Lenovo's "What's Your Idea Of Fun"
Web site, which offered modders a chance
to submit designs for a contest; the top
four designs would get a Lenovo PC to
mod and $2,000 to mod with.

"I came up with a design and submitted
it, never thinking I would be chosen,"
Fislar says. "When I found out that they
wanted me to build it, I really wasn't sure
if I could. Once the panels formed, I knew
this was going to be unique."

Lenovo K320 Ice went on to
win the contest, and it's easy to
see why. Fislar used the Lenovo's
original frame but built all of its
side panels and top panel from
resin, using aluminum foil in-
side his molds to create the
ice effect. Because the resin is
translucent, the mod's interior
lights emanate from within,
accentuating the textures that
are key to Fislar's design.

The mod's main compo-
nents are carryovers from
the Lenovo PC, including
its Intel Core i7-870, its Lenovo
mATX motherboard, its Lenovo PSU,
and the ATI Radeon HD 5970. Fislar
upgraded the system memory with 8GB
of Kingston DDR3 and built a custom
cooling setup with fittings, tubing,
coolant, and a CPU block from Danger
Den, plus an EK 5970 waterblock and a
custom pump.

The Lenovo K320 Ice recently showed
up at PAX East, and Fislar says, "You
will probably see it at several LANs
across the Midwest, showing
AMD's Eyefinity setup
in all its glory and
lighting up the
night skv."

HARD HAT AREA

ncryption

The Difference AES Instructions Can Make

Back in our March 2010
issue, we delved into
SEDs (self-encrypting
drives), which use dedicated
cryptographic processors within
the drive, and weighed them
against the more conventional
approach of using software-
based disk encryption. While we
think SEDs are a terrific idea, we
recognize that there is another
side to the issue. Not everyone
is going to pay extra for on-drive
encryption, especially since there
are very few self-encrypting SSDs on todays
market. A lot of users will continue to rely
on their CPUs to shoulder the encryption
load. Our question now is whether
optimized encryption support should be a
deciding factor in your next CPU choice.

Encryption In Action

We won't rehash (pardon the pun) why
encryption is so important to everyday
computing. Suffice it to say that every
secure online communication depends
on encryption, and not encrypting your
sensitive files, especially on a portable system
that's easily lost or stolen, is just begging
for trouble. There are many methods of
performing encryption in computer systems,
and the differences among various encryption
algorithms far exceeds what we can tackle
here. Our focus is on the AES (Advanced
Encryption Standard), which is the standard
encryption method for the U.S. government
and an increasingly common encryption
option for a range of PC applications, such as
disk encryption, compression/archiving tools,
and LAN communications. If everybody
simply used disk encryption from the initial
OS installation on, the risks tied to data theft
would plummet.

AES relies on keys with 128-, 192-, or
256-bit lengths. As we mentioned back in

AES encryption

March, if every person on Earth had 10
computers, each capable of testing 1 billion
key combinations per second and all working
in parallel, it would take 7.7 x 1,025 years,
give or take, to crack a 128-bit AES key using
brute force attack methods. With our sun
only expected to last another 5 billion years,
you shouldn't worry overmuch. Rather, you
might want to consider the performance
impact that using 256-bit instead of 128-bit
AES keys might have today.

For all its complexity, encryption follows
a very established series of operations. To
use old mechanical encryption engine terms,
the buttons you press and the cogs you turn
may vary with each usage, but the ways in
which you press those buttons or turn those
cogs stays constant — and can be accelerated.
Just as MMX and SSE instructions have
previously accelerated multimedia tasks and
other functions, AES-NI accelerates certain
AES encryption operations.

Many people approach AES acceleration
thinking that if an application uses AES
encryption, AES-NI (or VIA PadLock)
will simply make it work faster. This is
not the case. Just as with MMX and SSE
optimizations in years prior, the hardware-
based acceleration features must be
called by specific instructions within the
application code. As you'll see in several of

our testing results, an app may
use encryption, and even AES
in particular, but if the code
doesn't contain those instruction
calls, the hardware won't
specifically accelerate encryp-
tion performance.

With the C5P "Nehemiah"
chip in 2004, VIA launched its
own set of codes and in-processor
circuitry for AES acceleration,
and the feature has quietly moved
along in VIA's model stack ever
since. Intel didn't follow suit
until over five years later with the launch
of 32nm-based Core i5, namely the model
661. It's important to know that VTA and
Intel accelerate AES differently. The methods
are not cross-compatible. Back in 2008,
Intel proposed six new instructions for
the x86 instruction set, and these became
known as AES new instructions (AES-NI),
or sometimes the AES Instruction Set.
Deployment throughout Intel's current
CPU lines continues, but the company
seems to be withholding support from the
i3 series, perhaps as a differentiator to help
upsell buyers into the i5. Be sure to read the
fine print, but in general most Clarkdale,
Arrandale, and Westmere processors
(including the Core i7-980X) now support
AES-NI. AMD will start adding support
with its Bulldozer core this year.

We should add that AES-NI isn't
only about acceleration. While AES may
be essentially immune from brute force
cracking, a number of "academic" attacks
have sought to prove that AES can be
circumvented. These attacks focus on
the processor's cache. To help improve
computation performance, many AES
implementations use lookup tables. These
are arrays of values that can be quickly
scanned rather than having to compute
problems from scratch, but they tend to

42 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

become so large that they span

multiple cache resources. AES

operations will need to use

the secret key when accessing

certain parts of the lookup

tables. A malicious program

could, in theory, flood the

cache with data, forcing out

the cache's current contents.

By analyzing the expelled data,

the malware could discover

the secret key. This "sideband"

style of attack ignores trying to

break through the castle gates

and instead essentially goes

after the guard holding the

gate's bar in place. However, if all of the

computation that used to require lookup

tables can be handled in the CPU by added

AES acceleration resources, there's no more

need for lookup tables and thus no way

for cache flushing to yield any meaningful

data to malware. Thus hardware-based AES

acceleration makes systems safer and faster.

How We Tested

Many people who test encryption per-
formance end up working with mismatched
processors, as we did in our following
netbook tests. As a fundamental chip feature,
it can be tough — and closer to impossible,
actually, because the feature can't be disabled
in the BIOS — to find two processors alike in
practically every way except AES acceleration
support. In the following tests, we came
about as close as presently possible with our
Core U setup.

We used a Gigabyte X58A-UD7 Socket
1366 motherboard with 6GB (3 x 2GB)
of OCZ PC3-12800 Platinum memory
in triple-channel configuration, a 160GB
Intel X25-M "G2" SSD, Sparkle GTX 470
graphics card, and PC Power & Cooling
TurboCool 850W power supply, all running
Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit. Our only
variable on top of this platform was the
choice of processor.

First, we used last year's Core Y7-
965 Extreme Edition, the original top-
performance iteration of Intel's Nehalem
architecture, code-named Bloomfield. This

chip is based on the 45nm fab process,
runs at 3.2GHz, features four cores, and
has 8MB of shared L3 Intel Smart Cache.
Next up, we turn to the new Core i7-980X
Extreme Edition, often called Gulftown. This
chip is based on the 32nm process node,
nominally runs at 3.33GHz, has six cores,
and sports 12MB of L3 cache. These may
sound like apples and oranges, but we chose
the Gigabyte board specifically for its BIOS
flexibility. One feature we wanted was the
ability to disable a given number of cores,
and we knocked the Gulftown chip down
from six cores to four. We also eased back
the clock multiplier from 25X to 24X,
thus dropping the Gulftown's speed from
3.33GHz to 3.2GHz in order to match the
i7-965 Extreme. We couldn't do anything
about the 12GB of L3, nor could we
magically change a 32nm process back to
45nm. Fortunately for our purposes, though,
many applications don't realize much of
a raw performance change when moving
from 45nm to 32nm, and some of our data
proves this. Other features, such as Turbo
Boost, SSE4.2 support, Hyper-Threading,
and so on remain constant between the two
generations. In the end, we felt that this was
as close to a fair matchup for testing AES-NI
as we were ever likely to see.

With our netbook tests, a looser viewpoint
is needed. Our first priority was to give
VIA's PadLock implementation a fair shake.
We had a Lenovo IdeaPad S12 (LS20) on
hand, featuring the Nano U2250 (1.3+

GHz) processor with 2GB of
DDR2, VIA's VX800 chipset,
and Windows XP SP3. Against
this, we pitted our DIY OCZ
Neutrino, outfitted with a
1.6GHz Intel Atom N270,
2GB of DDR2, the 945GM
chipset, and Windows XP SP3.
Obviously, this isn't a perfect
fit, but it's close enough to let
us gauge VIA's PadLock against
a similar platform that lacks
encryption acceleration.

Applications that currently
support AES-NI or PadLock
remain relatively few, but their
ranks are slowly swelling. With Intel and
AMD both adding support throughout
mainstream processor segments, we expect
application uptake will grow more quickly
going forward. For now, we know of a few
major benchmarking tools that support
PadLock, such as CrystalMark, Everest,
PassMark 7, and Sandra 2009. Linux kernel
2.6.19 and OpenSSL 0.9.8 both made
PadLock support standard back in 2006.
VIA maintains that PadLock will accelerate
AES performance in the Java Runtime
Environment by up to 90 times. On the
Intel side, AES-NI support can be found
in OpenSSL, Linux, VMware Workstation,
Everest, and several other apps.

What We Found

Everest Ultimate 5.50 (www.lavalys
.com) is one of the quickest tests you can
throw down for AES testing. Buried within
the program's voluminous diagnostics and
benchmarks is a little routine called the
CPU AES Benchmark. This synthetic test
isolates AES performance apart from other
real-world factors to deliver a "true" benefit
result. In this case, our i7-980X shows a
nearly 14X gain over the i7-965 — a massive
difference that gives some indication of what
AES instructions can achieve.

We see similar results with the SiSoft
Sandra 2010 (www.sisoftware.net) Cryp-
tography benchmark, another very popular
synthetic test. General cryptographic
bandwidth shows a 4X gain with AES-NI.

CPU/ May 2011 43

HARD HAT AREA

Performance specifically of the AES256-ECB
encryption mode leaps to 7X improvement.
But just to demonstrate that it's AES that
benefits here and not encryption in general,
note that the SHA256 algorithm receives
no acceleration at all. The identical numbers
for SHA256 in three tests tell us that Sandra
sees our two Intel chips as being effectively
identical, confirming that the 980X's larger
L3 cache and smaller fab process have very
little impact on cryptographic operations.

BitLocker is available in the Enterprise
and Ultimate editions of Windows 7, with
Microsoft using 128-bit AES to lock down
complete disk volumes. We created a 10GB
partition on our Intel SSD, formatted it,
and clocked the time needed for BitLocker
to encrypt and then decrypt the volume.
BenchZone recently posted a collection of
benchmarks (bit.ly/bxr5l4) showing that a
BitLocker-encrypted volume runs "approx
10% faster again thanks to the AES-NI
instructions." Sure enough, our test examining
volume encryption time mirrors these
findings, showing a 10.7% benefit from the
AES-NI support in the i7-980X. Interestingly,
the benefit on decryption jumps to over
23%. This indicates that BitLocker leverages
AES-NI at all stages, not just operations on an
encrypted volume but also the actual creation
and elimination of that volumes encryption.

SourceForges support pages for 7-Zip (bit
.ly/cPfrtf) confirm that the compression utility
supports AES-NI. However, the improvement
seen on the i7-980X is only 5.6% — a number
small enough that we might chalk it up to
the chip's cache or fab node benefits rather
than AES acceleration. However, running
utilities such as 7-Zip and WinZip without
compression enabled suddenly reveals an
AES-NI benefit of almost 100%. This makes
for an interesting academic exercise, but the
reality is that nobody uses compression/
archiving tools only to encrypt files and not
compress them. If anything, most people likely
use moderate to maximum compression for
real-world situations. The overhead from this
compression virtually erases any performance
gains from AES-NI.

With PCMark Vantage's Communications
Suite, we jump back to synthetic testing, this

time in the context of operations that pertain
to apps such as VPN connections. Again, the
benefits of AES-NI are obvious, improving
performance by roughly 3.5X to 5.5X

In our netbook tests, Everest shows a
blistering 23X gain for VIA's PadLock over
the non-accelerated Atom. Sandra follows
suit with AES gains in the 8X to 25X range.
Both tests are known to be compatible with
PadLock instructions. We found no such
support with 7-Zip, and the results show as
much. Without acceleration, the VIA chip
falls to Intel's faster clock speed and perhaps
superior architecture for this particular task.

Lesson Learned

Today, relatively few applications and
even fewer processors support instructions

for AES acceleration. Twelve to 24
months from now, we expect matters to
have changed considerably. The need for
encryption across many software categories
is increasing, and AES-NI's broad rollout
will likely spur quick market adoption. Now
that Intel has built it, the apps will come.
Between now and then, though, buyers
will need to pay closer attention to fine
print. Does your prospective CPU support
AES acceleration? Just as importantly, do
your apps support that CPU's form of
acceleration? If only for future compatibility
and getting top performance from your
investments, make sure the answer to both
questions is yes. ■

by William Van Winkle

Encryption Benchmarking

Netbook Te.

Sandra Cryptography Results

Sandra Performance vs. Speed

Sandra Performance vs. Power

Crypto Bandwidth
AES256-ECB" "

AES256-ECB
SHA256 iSSE3 "
Crypto Bandwidth
AES256-ECB" "
SHA256 iSSE3

7-Zip w/ AES-256
Desktop Te

Sandra Cryptography Results

Crypto Bandwidth
AES256-ECB" "

Sandra Performance vs. Speed i Crypto Bandwidth
\ AES256-ECB
"j" SHA256iSSE3~
Sandra Performance vs. Power ! Crypto Bandwidth
" I AES256-ECB"
\ SHA256 ISSE3

7-Zip w/ AES-256

PCMark Vantage Comm. Suite

Comm. 1 Encryption
Comm. 2 Decryption
Comm. 4 Encryption
10GB Volume Encrypt
10GB Volume Decrypt

Lenovo S12

OCZ Neutrino

0.39 MB/s/MHz
"d. 55 MB/s/MHz

0.23 MB/s/MHz

0.02 MB/s/MHz
"6.02 _ MB/s/MHz"

0.03 MB/s/MHz

16.73 MB/s/W

1hr 10min 37sec ■ Ohr 42min 38sec

17-965 Extreme ■ I7-980X Extreme

0.25 MB/s/MHz
"d.25 MB/s/MHz "

1.02 MB/s/MHz
"i.77~MB/s/MHz"

0.26 MB/s/MHz ; 0.26 MB/s/MHz
2.84 MB/s/W !"l 1.42MB/S/W"

152.327 MB/s

20.196 MB/s
~819.387~MB/s"

20.465 MB/s

44 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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ADVANCED Q&A CORNER

Get informed answers to your advanced technical questions from
CPU. Send your questions along with a phone and/or fax number, so
we can call you if necessary, to g&a@cpumaq.com . Please include
all pertinent system information.

Each month we dig deep into the CPU
mailbag in an effort to answer your most
pressing technical questions. Want some
advice on your next purchase or upgrade?
Have a ghost in your machine? Are
BSODs making your life miserable? CPU s
"Advanced Q&A Corner" is here for you.

Joe B. asked: In the March Q&A column,
while answering Cameron R.'s question
[see page 44], you state that the only
difference between the Radeon HD 6950
and 6970 is the firmware. Yet, in the same
issue, on page 29, it states that the higher
performance of the HD 6970 compared to the
HD 6950 is that the former has "additional
stream processors, texture units, and higher
clocks." Which one of you guys has it right?

Ai Well, Joe, both articles are correct.
Let us explain. When AMD or Nvidia
release new GPUs, these chips will most
likely be used on more than one product.
For example, the Radeon HD 6970
and Radeon HD 6950 are both based
on the same physical GPU, which was
code-named "Cayman" throughout its
development. The Cayman GPU used
on Radeon HD 6970 cards has all of its
functional blocks enabled, which is to
say it is a fully functional version of the
GPU. However, the Cayman GPU used
on the Radeon HD 6950, although still
based on the same GPU, has parts of the
GPU disabled, which results in the lower
stream processor and texture unit counts.
And the reference specifications also call
for lower clocks.

Sometimes these disabled blocks on the
GPU cannot be reactivated because they

are "fused" off at the factory for whatever
reason. With the majority of reference
Radeon HD 6950 cards, though, it
appears that AMD has turned off the
disabled portions of the GPU through
the card's firmware. And by flashing a
reference Radeon HD 6950 card with the
firmware from a reference Radeon HD
6970, you can re-enable those functional
blocks and increase the GPU and
memory clocks, which makes the 6950
essentially identical to a 6970 in terms of
its specifications and performance.

With that said, there is still one other
difference between reference Radeon HD
6970 and HD 6950 cards: their power
connector configurations. The Radeon HD
6970 has a single 8-pin connector and a
single 6-pin connector, while the 6950
has a pair of 6-pin connectors. Technically,
the Radeon HD 6970 will have additional
power at its disposal if the need arises; at
this point, though, we haven't heard of
any issues involving modded 6950s not
working properly due to power limitations

I si
■ 11

^EON SS

i j

Reference Radeon HD 6970 and HD 6950
cards are fundamentally very similar. In fact,
many reference Radeon HD 6950 cards can
be converted into pseudo 6970s with a simple
firmware update.

resulting from its power connector con-
figuration. Even if there were, lowering the
max power through AMD's PowerTune
would most likely resolve them.

Pete F. asked: I have a question for
you guys about SSDs, but not the tradi-
tional SATA-based drives that everyone is
clamoring over. I do a lot of video production
as a side business of mine, and I could really
benefit from the screaming fast speeds of a
PCI-E SSD card. I've been watching various
products come to market, from Fusion-io's
ridiculously expensive blades to the more
reasonably priced products, such as OCZ's
Z-Drives and RevoDrives.

What's your opinion on what currently is
the best value in PCI-E SSDs? Do I really need
something with SLC, or will MLC work for what
I'm doing? I'm not so concerned about price, but
I'm definitely not interested in dropping a few
grand on a Fusion-io card. Any suggestions?

A: Pete, the first thing we took note of is
that you're describing a high-end workstation
usage model here and not an enterprise
server or data center application. As such,
we'd suggest going with a less expensive
MLC version of whatever card you decide
on. Although SLC has much higher write
endurance than MLC, it's highly unlikely
that you're going to run into a reliability issue
with the amount of data you'll be writing to
the drive day in and day out. Life cycle data
on MLC flash has been mounting for a few
years now, and reliability is much less of a
concern these days.

From a simple price/performance per-
spective, we really like OCZ's RevoDrive X2,
although it does have a couple of shortfalls.

46 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

OCZ's new Z-Drive R3 will reportedly offer 1 GBps read bandwidth and up to 970MBps for
writes, for a fraction of the price of an enterprise-class PCI-E SSD.

The product has an issue with not coming
out of sleep state should your system go
into standby. It also lacks nonvolatile
RAM for caching any data that is waiting
to be written to the drive in the event of
power failure.

However, by the time you read this,
OCZ's new Z-Drive R3 should have
arrived to market. It not only is supposed
to be ridiculously fast with lGBps read
bandwidth and up to 970MBps for writes,
but it also has a "supercap" capacitor on
board. The supercap is a high-energy
capacitor that acts as a short-term power
source to let the drive complete pending
writes in the event of power loss. It should
also resolve the wake from sleep issue that
the RevoDrive X2 has.

At the time of this writing, OCZ hasn't
set pricing yet for the Z-Drive R3, but the
MLC version should fall along a similar
price curve, perhaps slightly higher, as the
RevoDrive X2 when it was first introduced.
The Z-Drive R3 should be available in
capacities of 300GB, 600GB, and 1.2TB.

Juan Pablo R. asked: i am on a

limited budget and have been upgrading my
system piecemeal for a few years now. I'm
almost to the point where it's time for a new
processor and motherboard, but my current
system (a Core 2 Duo with 4GB of RAM and
a GeForce GTX 260) is still serving me well.
I'm thinking about upgrading it with a new
solid-state drive, but if I do, I want to buy
one of the latest models that support 6Gbps
SATA, so that when I do finally upgrade my
motherboard and processor I'll benefit from
the faster interface.

I was wondering if there is any downside
to buying a 6Gbps SATA SSD like an OCZ
Vertex 3 or Intel 510 series and using it on
an older motherboard that only has 3Gbps
SATA. Should I just save my money and get
a cheaper 3Gbps SATA SSD? Will the 6Gbps
SATA SSD still work properly and have
TRIM, etc., when used on the old board?

Ai If you have the funds, we say splurge
for the 6Gbps SATA SSD. It'll offer
excellent performance now and even

better performance when you upgrade
again. To answer your questions, yes, a
6Gbps SATA SSD will work properly
on an older motherboard that only has
3Gbps SATA ports. And as long as your
board/chipset properly supports AHCI
and you have the correct drivers installed
(and you're running Windows 7), TRIM
and garbage collection will function on
the drive, as well.

You should keep in mind, however, that
a 6Gbps SATA SSD will never be able to hit
its peak performance when connected to the
older interface. In our testing, for example,
we found the OCZ Vertex 3 performed
about the same as the OCZ Vertex 2 when
connected to a 3Gbps SATA interface.
That's still great, but there will obviously be
some untapped performance in the Vertex
3. For such a drive to truly hit its peak, a
chipset with native 6Gbps SATA support is
what you'll need. ■

by Dave Altavilla and Marco Chiappetta,

THE EXPERTS OVER AT HotHaRDWARE.COM .

CPU/ May 2011 47

HARD HAT AREA

X-RAY VISION

exas Instruments' OMAP 5

New SoC Promises To Change Interaction With Smartphones

Although we're still 18 months
away from seeing products, Texas
Instruments' recent announcement of
its OMAP (Open Multimedia Application
Platform) 5 SoC (system on chip) looks like
one of those technological advancements that
will be well worth the wait.

The OMAP 5 SoC provides significant
architectural improvements over previous
generations of TI's OMAP platforms.
Eventually, OMAP 5 should bring
full gesture recognition in a 3D space
to smartphones and other devices. The
gesture recognition could look similar to
what was envisioned in the 2002 Steven
Spielberg film "Minority Report."

"One of the key things we talk about is it's
not just a faster horse," says Brian Carlson,
TI's OMAP 5 product line manager. "You'll
be able to do new things with it."

OMAP 5 Architecture

TI was the first company to license
the Cortex-A15 low-power processor
from ARM, and using these chips in
OMAP 5 provides significant benefits,
Carlson says. TI began working on
OMAP 5 in December 2005, and it
began working with ARM on the A15
around the same time.

"We started talking with ARM about
what we wanted," Carlson says. "We saw
even back then that mobile computing
was going to come to this point in the
market. It takes multiple years to bring
this kind of technology to market. It's a
long process, defining what technologies
we're going to need."

In addition, OMAP 5 will feature
two Cortex-M4 cores. The M4 cores
will not work as well as the A15 cores
for general-purpose processing, but
TI will use the M4 for fast-response
processing needs, Carlson says. For
example, the M4 cores may be used

for faster video encoding and decoding
and for image enhancement, allowing
smartphone cameras to more closely
approach the image quality of point-
and-shoot digital cameras.

"They're running very fast from a
responsiveness point of view, and they're
very low-power," Carlson says of the M4
cores. "We use multiple cores to do the
work in the most power-efficient way."

With the OMAP 5 architecture, the
hardware will make the determination
about which cores can best handle each
set of instructions, switching between the
Al 5 and M4 cores seamlessly.

"We have customers who are taking
advantage of using those M4 cores to
do things behind the scenes," Carlson
says. "We can make it seamless from
a software point of view. We can give
the best performance and the most
responsiveness."

New Smartphone Options

Another key component of OMAP
5 will be its ability to support multiple
operating systems.

"We needed to be doing this in the
hardware, to very efficiently run multiple
operating systems," Carlson says. "You
can run Android and the next generation
of Windows and move between them
seamlessly. People are using their phones
not only for business, but also for
personal use, but not necessarily in the
same OS environment. They want to
keep their data and apps separate."

By using OMAP 5 with smartphones,
pico projectors, and cameras, and by
supporting 3D video, OMAP 5 could
find itself generating interactive 3D
environments with gesture recognition.
OMAP 5 can support up to four cameras
and encode and decode 3D video content
at full 1080pHD quality.

"One of the differentiators for TI is
that we're such a broad company,"
Carlson says. "We have such diversity
... we are bringing new capabilities to
mobile phones that we've leveraged in
other areas."

3D capabilities in smartphones
already are appearing based on OMAP
4, but Carlson says the 3D capabilities in
OMAP 5 will bring greater options for
users, changing the way people interact
with their mobile devices. For example,
the days of touching the screen on your
smartphone likely will be coming to an
end, he says.

"Once you have 3D, you take advantage
of it for a natural user interface," Carlson
says. "With every pixel, we can determine
the depth of that pixel . . . the next
generation is going to be about gesture
recognition, rather than touch."

Purchasing OMAP 5 Products

Carlson says the OMAP 5 SoC should
be sampling later this year, and he
expects products based on OMAP 5 to be
available in the third quarter of 2012, just
in time for the 2012 holiday season.

Until the OMAP 5 products arrive,
consumers will be able to take advantage
of OMAP 4 products, which are appearing
now, including the LG Optimus 3D
smartphone, announced in February.
The LG Optimus 3D unit is the first 3D
smartphone to make use of OMAP 4.

With this type of processing and
imaging power showing up in phones
and tablets, the migration of everyday
computing tasks from PCs to small,
portable devices continues.

"We are really transforming these mobile
devices," Carlson says. "You'll interact with
them in totally different ways." I

by Kyle Schurman

48 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

X-RAY VISION

OMAP 4 vs. OMAP 5

Although the OMAP 5 platform contains several architectural improvements
versus the OMAP 4 platform, Carlson says it's important to keep in mind that
the two platforms are architecturally related, which ensures compatibility.

Carlson says the upgrade to the Cortex-A15 processors - along with the
addition of the Cortex-M4 processors - provides OMAP 5 a strong upgrade in
processing power and efficiency over the OMAP 4 and its Cortex-A9 processors.

"A15 brings a lot of advancements in being able to do more in each
clock cycle," Carlson says. "You can't just compare clock cycles. It's a big
boost in performance."

Tl claims a 60% average power reduction in the OMAP 5 vs. the OMAP
4 when performing the same types of tasks. Carlson says much of the
power reduction occurs because the OMAP 5 uses a 28nm fabrication
process, while the OMAP 4 uses a 45nm fabrication process.

"That gives us about a 30% reduction in power alone," Carlson says.
"Internal caching lets us reduce power even more. There are a lot of things

we are doing behind the scenes to reduce power. I have all of this per-
formance on demand when I need it, but I also can use that overhead to
reduce power usage."

OMAP 5 also takes advantage of the third version of Tl's SmartReflex
technology, which manages power conservation. (OMAP 4 used the
second version of SmartReflex.)

OMAP 5 will be available in two configurations. The OMAP5432 will
be aimed at mobile computing and other consumer products, while the
OMAP5430 should appear in smartphones and tablets. OMAP5430 is
smaller and uses less power than OMAP5432, allowing it to fit better in the
smartphone and tablet market.

"The whole key for this architecture is to do things as efficiently as pos-
sible from a power perspective," Carlson says. "It's about doing all of this
from a very low power budget." ■

Source: Tl

OMAP 5

28nm CMOS fabrication
process

SMP (symmetric multiprocessing),
which activates only the cores
needed for a particular process
Two ARM Cortex-A15 MPCore
processors with up to 2GHz clock speed
Two ARM Cortex-M4 processors
Full 1080p60HD video for 2D
Full 1080p30 HD video for 3D
SGX544 graphics core
SmartReflex 3 technology, which is Tl's tech-
nology for managing power conservation
Memory supported: DDR3 and DDR3L
(with OMAP5432) or LPDDR2 (OMAP5430)
L2 cache size of 2MB
Uses 14x1 4mm PoP package (OMAP5430)
or 17x1 7mm BGA package (OMAP5432)

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- MM
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Spejkws Q ^
Vitro!**

Amplifier R~Tl] HFspeaku
O-QD Handsel

OMAP 4

45nm CMOS fabrication process

SMP (symmetric multiprocessing)

which activates only the cores

needed for a particular process

Two ARM Cortex-A9 MPCore processors

with up to 1 .5GHz clock speed

Full 1080p30HD video for 2D

1080p or 720p HD video for 3D

SGX540 graphics core

SmartReflex 2 technology, which is Tl's tech

nology for managing power conservation

Memory supported: LPDDR2

L2 cache size of 1MB

Uses 12x1 2mm PoP package

CPU/ May 2011 49

HARD HAT AREA

WHITE PAPER

icron uear

New Design Aims To Improve NAND Performance, Longevity

AND flash memory — and the
products that make use of it — quickly
are becoming some of the most
popular products in personal electronics.
Solid-state drives, personal media players, and
mobile devices are just some of the products
making use of NAND flash memory.

Part of the reason NAND has
become such an important part of

the personal electronics marketplace
is because of the scaling behind the
technology. As NAND flash memory
shrinks, it allows for more storage in
the same amount of space, providing
more value and performance.

But along with this shrink, the pos-
sibility of bit errors within NAND flash
increases, something that threatens the

ability of NAND to continue to make
improvements necessary to maintain its
growth. This problem has led memory
maker Micron to make changes to its
NAND flash design. The company's
ClearNAND uses an innovative approach
to tackle the increasing number of
errors associated with smaller NAND
manufacturing processes.

Raw NAND Vs. ClearNAND

The primary difference between raw NAND and Micron's
ClearNAND is the placement of an ECC (error-correcting
code) controller on the NAND die. With raw NAND, the
host processor performs all of the required tasks, such
as supporting ECC and block management, internally.

By moving the ECC controller onto the NAND die with
ClearNAND and by using new error-correction algorithms,
ClearNAND can provide greatly improved performance
over raw NAND, Micron's director of NAND strategic

marketing Kevin Kilbuck says. With the improved ECC
under ClearNAND, he says customers who have hit a brick
wall in terms of performance using raw NAND will be able
to take advantage of ClearNAND.

"We have customers today who will use our 25nm
ClearNAND who cannot use raw NAND because of
ECC issues," Kilbuck says. "With our error-management
algorithm, we can improve endurance over what raw
NAND can do." ■

Raw NAND

ClearNAND

Host Processor

Block Management

Wear Leveling

ECC

Driver

^ ONFI
■ NAND

-^^ bus

1 NAND

Single package
with controller
and NAND die

50 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

WHITE PAPER

ClearNAND Endurance & ECC Options

Scaling NAND into finer geometries allows for higher
capacities and lower costs but also requires more error
correction. NAND endurance also degrades along with
manufacturing process shrinks.

As shown in graph A, as the geometry shrinks, the number
of bits required for ECC rises, and the number of P/E (program/
erase) cycles the NAND memory can endure declines.

The bits become more tightly packed as the NAND scales
down into finer geometries, meaning the memory cells are
moving closer to each other, which causes more interference
and crosstalk. You can see the smaller gates
in each geometry in the photos below.

When the manufacturing process shrinks,
the memory transistors have fewer electrons
per floating gate, which leads to more bit
errors. The increased RBER (raw bit error
rate) requires more bits dedicated to ECC.
Consequently, the number of logic gates
dedicated to ECC in the memory must be
increased, too, as shown in graph B. For
example, 16-bit ECC (marked as "BCH t=16"
in the graph) requires about 80,000 gates. A
60-bit ECC would require about 300,000 gates.

"We're starting to reach the effective
limit of what standard ECC can do," says
Kevin Kilbuck, Micron's director of NAND
strategic marketing. "It's starting to limit the
adoption for NAND in some environments.
. . . Clear NAND can alleviate a lot of these
headaches. By using these tools, we can
improve the endurances quite a bit over
what the raw NAND can do. We can cycle
a lot more data through before we wear out
the NAND."

The ClearNAND controller takes over the ECC and uses
improved algorithms for better endurance.

Kilbuck says that despite the drawbacks with continued
scaling, the current benefits still greatly outweigh any problems.

"We do it for cost reasons," Kilbuck says. "By scaling, we
offer new applications. NAND continues to displace other
forms of media. . . . ClearNAND helps ... but the scaling wall
is coming. We're getting to the point where we can count the
number of electrons in each cell on our fingers and toes." ■

Source: Micron

50nm NAND

34nm NAND

25nm NAND

CPU/ May 2011 51

HARD HAT AREA

WHITE PAPER

ClearNAND Introduced

Essentially, ClearNAND makes use of
a traditional raw NAND interface with
an ECC (error-correcting code) processor
built into the NAND die.

"We put a controller in a standard NAND
package to handle ECC," says Kevin Kilbuck,
Micron's director of NAND strategic
marketing. "It's the same package, the same
interface. The controller with the NAND die
does all of the ECC management.

Future NAND Options

"It's very simple to design, but it does
add cost and complexity," he says.

As NAND scales down to smaller and
smaller sizes, the number of bit errors
increases. And with more bit errors, the
performance of the NAND memory suffers.
With ClearNAND, Micron is placing the
ECC processor and the NAND in the same
package, improving performance. The host
processor still must perform the other tasks,
but it no longer also needs to manage ECC.

Component manufacturers often
want to customize the tasks performed
by the host processor, allowing them
to differentiate their products, Kilbuck
says. But with traditional NAND,
customizing the ECC controller isn't
an option, because the ECC controller's
configuration is dependent on the
NAND in use; any changes to the
ECC controller would prevent it from
working properly with the NAND.

Even though advancements in NAND technology, such as ClearNAND, will lengthen the lifespan of the traditional
NAND design, Kevin Kilbuck, Micron director of NAND strategic marketing, says that the technology will eventually hit
a limit because the floating gates simply can't be made any smaller. Currently, Micron is exploring two future memory
technologies, 3D NAND and Cross Point NAND.

3D. By adding multiple layers to its NAND cells, Micron could potentially increase densities without having to further
scale down the size of the floating gates.

"With 3D, we'd build layers of transistors vertically," Kilbuck says. "It sounds easy, but it's not. It's very conceptual at this
point. . . . We learned a lot of these 3D techniques with DRAM, and we may now apply it to NAND.

Cross Point. A Cross Point design potentially would provide greater density with both vertical and horizontal storage.

"With Cross Point, we place the storage elements in an X-Y array," Kilbuck says. "The storage element would have to
be made very small and power-conservative."

Micron's research into these memory technologies will continue, Kilbuck says, but the company isn't ready to give up
making additional improvements to NAND yet.

"There is nothing in the next five years that will approach the cost [value] of NAND," Kilbuck says. "NAND still has a lot
of headroom, even if we do nothing more [in terms of NAND research.]" ■

Source: Micron

3D NAND Cells

Cross Point NAND Cells

52 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

HARD HAT AREA

WHITE PAPER

By placing ECC on the NAND die,
Micron's ClearNAND lets device man-
ufacturers more easily design the host
processor to specifically manage its other
tasks, he says, meeting customers' desires
for customization.

"The host processor has to do a lot of
other functions," Kilbuck says. "Storage is
only a part of it."

Micron's NAND Development

ClearNAND is close to appearing in
products, Kilbuck says.

"We're sampling [ClearNAND] now,"
he says. "Our customers are starting to

test it. In the second half of 2011, you'll
start to see some production volumes."

Micron is one of two companies (along
with Samsung) that develops NAND,
DRAM, and NOR memory. Other develop-
ers focus on only one or two memory types.

"We think it's good to be a multi-memory
developer for several reasons," Kilbuck says.
"It's important from a scaling standpoint. It's
important for our customers, as we're finding
they're using DRAM, NAND, and NOR in
the same product."

Another benefit of developing more than
one type of memory is the ability to share
research successes between groups. Kilbuck

says Micron can borrow from work it has
done with DRAM development to make
improvements in NAND, for example.

"We can share technologies between all
of the types, and we think that will be to
our benefit," he says.

With ClearNAND and other types
of new NAND designs, flash memory
components will continue to shrink in size.
Consequently, the CE devices that rely
on flash NAND will be able to provide
more for less, with the increase in value
ultimately benefiting consumers. ■

by Kyle Schurman

Copyback In Enhanced ClearNAND

One area where ClearNAND's architecture allows it to experience greatly improved performance is in how ClearNAND
handles a process called Copyback, which involves moving data from one channel (or package) to another.

During Copyback with raw NAND, the host controller issues a read to one of the NAND die, controls and checks the
ECC, and then programs (writes) the data back to another NAND die. The external bus is tied up with moving data during
the entire operation.

With Enhanced ClearNAND, the host controller still handles Copyback. However, ClearNAND's built-in ECC controller
handles the ECC controls, meaning data can be moved from one die to another without tying up the external bus. The
error correction can be completed internally.

In a large SSD system (shown here), the operation of moving data from one die to another (shown with green arrows)
can be performed internally, with up to four simultaneous operations per channel, freeing up the external bus. If the data
must be updated or moved between packages or between channels, the host controller and external bus then can be used
(red arrows). By freeing up the external bus and using it only for particular types of data movement, ClearNAND greatly
improves overall system performance. ■

Source: Micron

CPU/ May 2011 53

IC&s&wi

Hwc tfr<^3 FIX

We Build Our Best PC Ever

If you've been reading CPU over the last couple of years,
then you probably ran across our "PC Challenge" build contests
once or twice. The PC Challenge pitted CPU staffers against
each other in duels to determine who could create the best
purpose-built systems. The competition was fierce, and the
resulting systems were great. But we're left wondering if some of
our gladiators took the challenge a little too seriously. The final
tally: nine black eyes, four restraining orders, two fractured ribs,
and one person now enrolled in the witness protection program.
(Your secret's safe with us, Drew Belmani.)

In the aftermath of the PC Challenge carnage, we decided that
a cease-fire was in order. Instead, we would pool our collective
wisdom and expertise to create the most awesome system ever
to step into our test lab.

Past Challenges tested CPUs system builders with certain rules
and requirements that made each build, well, challenging. We
frequently required challengers to stay within a certain budget,
often forcing them to make compromises in component
selection. The sole stipulation with this build: Win. Win
at gaming. Win at overclocking. Win at booting. Win at
everything. We infused our components with tiger blood
and Adonis DNA and then set it loose on the world. We call
it CHARLIE (Computer Honed And Ready for Leetness In
Everything) . Be afraid, Jon Cryer.

We'll break down each of CHARLIE's parts on a component-
by-component basis in the following pages, but here's what
you can expect to see: Intel's top-of-the-line Sandy Bridge chip
(watercooled, duh), the Core i7-2600K, with a grade A P67

54 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

.... * ' Jl i» * 't ■

i *.

«SfiS

motherboard to match, two rip-roaring GeForce GTX 580s
in SLI, one wicked-fast PCI-E-based SSD to boot Windows
in the blink of an eye, Western Digital's 2TB Caviar Black
to store our stuff, 16 whole gigabytes of high-performance
DDR3, a 1,250-watt modular PSU, and Blu-ray burner, all
tucked away in a roomy NZXT case that is as functional as it
is attractive.

Each piece receives its own turn under Spotlight's spotlight,
where we'll tell you what we liked and why that particular
component belongs with CHARLIE. Picking this hardware
is equal parts art and science, so it's quite possible that you
could create your own ultimate PC — EMILIO (Exceptional
Machine Indubitably Longing for Intimidating Overclocks),
for the sake of argument — with a slightly different shopping

^*L%>:

§S£«

■mh

ii-iM

list. It's OK; great minds think alike. Let this be a rough
blueprint for your own outlandish build.

With all of our hardware carefully installed and tuned to perfection,
we unleashed CHARLIE on a rampage that will surely set the world
ablaze. CHARLIE binged on a bender of synthetic and real-world
benchmarks, turning in a performance for the ages. At the end of it all,
we were forced to arrive at the only reasonable conclusion: This rig has
a different constitution, a different brain, a different heart. It only has
one speed, "Go!" And go it did, ladies and gentlemen. Go it did.

So come along with us as we chronicle exactly how CHARLIE
came to be . . . if you dare. ■

byVince Cogley

CPU/ May 2011 55

MSI P67A-GD80 (B3)

Although you can swap in this
component or swap out that one to
improve your system, the motherboard
is the piece that holds it a
together. If you're building
a killer rig, you bet-
ter have a commen-
surate motherboard

that can serve as
the foundation.

The MSI P67A-GD80
(B3) certainly fills the bill,
providing ample features to let you
hang some serious hardware on it.

The socket LGA1155 board supports
the latest Sandy Bridge chips, accepts
a maximum 32GB of system memory
(DDR3-2133 [OC]), and can handle
up to 3-way SLI or CrossFireX con-
figurations (although the bottom PEG
slot will be limited to a PCI-E x4 speed
in such a setup). It also supports USB 3.0
and SATA 6Gbps to take better advantage
of attached peripherals and components,
such as speedy boot drives.

Specifications aside, the true value of a
motherboard (as with many things) is
often determined by the small touches
that display thoughtful craftsmanship, the
less flashy but no less important aspects of
a product. For example, the P67A-GD80
(B3)'s PCI-E xl6 2.0 slots are spaced so
that you can set up multiple dual-slot
graphics cards.

And it doesn't stop there. The P67A-GD80
(B3) is built with Military Class II parts,
including Hi-c caps, which are made of
tantalum and purport to outlast a solid
capacitor by a factor of 8; SFC (super ferrite
choke), which is designed to lower the overall
system temperature for better stability; and
solid capacitors, to help ensure longer life
and eliminate bursting capacitors. When

P67A-GD80 (B3)

$229

MSI

www.msi.com

Socket LGA1155; Intel P67 chipset (B3 stepping); Max memory: 32GB DDR3-
2133 (OC); Slots: 3 PCI-E x16, 2 PCI-E x1 , 2 PCI; Ports: 2 6Gbps SATA, 4 3Gbps SATA,
2 3Gbps eSATA, 4 USB 2.0, 6 USB 3.0, 1 FireWire, 2 Gigabit Ethernet

- *;

you're pushing your system to its limits,
you want to be sure those oft-overlooked
components can handle the pressure.

For overclockers, the P67A-GD80 (B3) has
plenty to offer. The OC Genie, which can
be activated by pressing a physical button
on the board itself or in the BIOS settings,
detects the hardware configuration and
automatically overclocks the CPU. With
Instant OC, you can automatically adjust
the CPU and memory voltage and clocks,
too. If, in the course of your tinkering,
you do something disastrous, you can fall
back on M-Flash, which lets you create a
backup BIOS on a USB flash drive. The
BIOS itself actually has a GUI, making
the traditionally stark environment more
pleasing to behold, which you'll appreciate
if you're spending a lot of time in there.

You may have heard that Intel's Cougar
Point shipped with a SATA bug; well, not
to worry— that "(B3)" in the P67A-GD80
(B3)'s name indicates that this motherboard
was shipped with that issue fixed.

Other choice features of the P67A-GD80
(B3) include THX TruStudio Pro for
high-fidelity audio; Super Charger, which
routes power to a given USB port to more
quickly recharge attached devices; Winki
3, a Linux environment that grants you
Internet access while the rest of the system
boots; APS (active phase switching) to
save energy; and Live Update 5 and
Live Update Online to automatically
download the latest driver and BIOS
updates from MSI. ■

by Seth Colaner

56 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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SPOTLIGHT

Intel Core J7-2600K

Socket: LGA1155; Clock speed: 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo); 8MB L3 Smart
Cache; 95W maxTDP; Hyper-Threading enabled; Turbo Boost enabled

As OF PRESS TIME, THE INTEL CORE lj-

2600K was the fastest Sandy Bridge desk-
top processor available. It offers 8-way
processing (four physical cores with Hyper-
Threading) at a standard clock speed of
3.4GHz. The "K" designation also means
that the processor and the integrated
graphics core is fully unlocked, so you can
set the multiplier and base clock as high as
the cooling in your system allows you to go.

The Core i7-2600K includes all of Intel's
newest goodies. For example, Intel Turbo
Boost 2.0 technology automatically pushes
the chip's performance to 3. 8 GHz when the
processor is under load, as long as the CPU
stays within thermal limits. You'll also find
Intel's Hyper-Threading, a feature that isn't
included on the Intel Core i5-2500K.

There are built-in instruction sets for
SSE 4.1/4.2 and AVX (a 256-bit instruc-
tion set extension to SSE for floating
point-intensive applications). The Core

17-2600K also offers 8MB of shared
Intel Smart Cache for fast access to data.
The memory controller integrated
into the Core i7-2600K supports dual-
channel DDR3 clocked up to 1,333MHz
for a maximum memory bandwidth
of 21GBps. Maximum memory size
is 32GB.

The base clock speed of the i7-2600K
is 100MHz, while the multiplier is 34.
When overclocking, we like that you
can change the base clock and/or the
multiplier, so you can tinker with the
settings to find the best speed. Of course,
you can also boost the CPU's voltage to
push the limits even further.

Most overclocking experts have found
that you can hit clock frequencies around
4.4GHz without making any adjustments
to the Intel Core i7-2600K's voltage, and
the 1GHz jump in speed is a good amount
of headroom when compared to other

high-end processors. In our build, we were
able to hit 4.7GHz with minimal effort.

Pairing the Intel Core i7-2600K with
MSI's P67-GD80 (B3) disables the chip's
integrated graphics core, but we'd be remiss if
we didn't mention the i7-2600K's integrated
graphics capabilities. Those who picked a
motherboard with an Intel H67 chipset will
be able to harness Intel HD 3000 graphics,
which are capable of playing some of today's
games at basic image quality settings. You'll
also enjoy Intel's Quick Sync Video (hardware
acceleration for image and video editing),
Intel's InTRU 3D Technology (supports 3D
playback), and dual-display capability.

We also like that the Core i7-2600K is
comparably affordable with the rest of
Intel's high-end lineup. The ease and
headroom for overclocking makes the
Core i7-2600K an even better value. ■

by Nathan Lake

■ ^ i

<*&#*

58 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

.,<&■■■

iPGTLICHT

NZXT Phantom

Phantom

$139.99

NZXT

www.nzxt.com

Dimensions: 21.3 x 8.7 x 24.5 inches (HxWxD); Material:
Steel, plastic; Motherboard support: E-ATX, ATX, mATX, Baby AT;
Weight: 24.3lbs; Bays: 5 5.25-inch external, 7 3.5-inch internal
(with 2.5-inch adapters); Slots: 7; Fans: 1 140mm front, 1 120mm
rear (included), 2 120mm (included) and 1 200mm side, 2 200mm top
(1 included, w/LED); Ports: 2 USB 2.0, e-SATA, audio I/O; 5-channel fan controller

The NZXT Phantom is a beauty of a
case that'll put a gleam in the eye of any
enthusiast; if you're looking for an ATX full
tower, this one should be on your short list.

The Phantom supports E-ATX, ATX,
microATX, and Baby AT mobos, and
provides plenty of space for dual-radiator
liquid-cooling gear (it even comes with
liquid-cooling cutouts), multiple graphics
cards, several big fans, and stacks of 2.5-
and 3. 5 -inch drives. It's roomy enough to
handle just about all the stuff you want
to throw in there and still leave you
enough room so that you won't be
scraping your knuckles when you dig
into the machine's innards.

Some serious attention to detail went into
this case. The motherboard tray (with
cutouts for easy access to components)
features rubber grommets, and there's

plenty of room to route cables behind
the mobo tray. The baked enamel finish
is flawless, extending to the inside of the
case. (We tested the Phantom case in
white, a very cool combination that looks
like it could be standard-issue "Star Wars"
stormtrooper equipment.)

We did discover that we had to use the
screws included with our PSU in order
to mount the unit in the case, rather than
the black thumbscrews that are included
with the case. No big deal, and it didn't
really spoil the look.

The folks at NZXT take cooling very
seriously. In addition to a top panel
that's largely mesh and plenty of space
for liquid-cooling gear, the Phantom
has room for seven fans, four of which
are included with the case. (NOTE:
If you decide to add more 200mm fans,

make sure you stick with NZXTs FN -200
fans to ensure a good fit; the Phantoms
200mm mounting is nonstandard, so
200mm fans from other manufacturers
may not fit)) A five-channel manual fan
controller (capable of handling 20W
per channel) is included; obviously,
that's handy for balancing airflow with
a case this large.

There's also plenty of room for storage,
with bays for seven 3.5-inch hard drives
(and adapters for 2. 5 -inch units), plus an
additional seven expansion slots. Screw-
less rails make installing and removing
HDDs a breeze.

The NZXT Phantom is a beautiful piece
of work in which form not only follows
function, but complements it. ■

by Rod Scher

...■'<$%

PU/ May 2011 5.9?
■rf* I

*v.

Gigabyte GeForce GTX 580 GV-N580UD-

Both Nvidia and AMD offer comp-
elling options for gamers with deep
pockets, which made selecting the graphics
cards for our rig a difficult task. Although
the GeForce GTX 580 is unequivocally
the fastest single-GPU graphics card on
the planet, AMD's dual-GPU Radeon HD
6990 is the fastest card overall.

Ultimately, Nvidia gets our nod because
the SLI rig can deliver triple-monitor
gaming like AMD's 6990 CrossFireX-
on-a-card, but also with the added
bonus of 3D Vision Surround. Yeah, we
know AMD has 3D, too, but Nvidia's
scheme is the more fleshed out of the
two. From a gaming standpoint, PhysX
is also compelling for supported games.
CUDA also offers a few gaming-themed
enhancements that stand out, for instance,
Just Cause 2 s impressive water effects.

The GTX 480 based on the original Fermi
architecture had a problem with leaky
transistors, but the GF110 GPU inside the
GTX 580 is a significantly refined Fermi
that solves that problem and subsequently
is cooler, quieter under load, and capable
of running DirectX 1 1 games with settings
maxed out on even the highest resolutions.
The GPU inside the GeForce GTX 580
features 16 SMs for a total of 512 CUDA
cores, 64 texture units, and 48 ROPs. The
memory subsystem consists of 1,536MB
dedicated GDDR5 memory, clocked at
1,002MHz and running on a 384-bit bus.
The reference GTX 580 has a core clock of
772MHz, but Gigabyte upped the ante by
overclocking the graphics card to 795MHz.
Additional features previously touched
upon include support for PhysX, SLI, and
CUDA-based GPGPU computing.

Running a pair of GTX 580s in SLI
will generate a lot of heat, so our goal
in selecting the graphics cards was to try
to minimize the thermal impact on the

Gigabyte GeForce
GTX580GV-N580UD-15I

$499.99 (online)

Gigabyte

us.gigabyte.com

overall system as much as possible by
selecting a GTX 580 with a better- than-
stock cooler. Gigabyte's GV-N580UD-15I
is a GTX 580 with an aftermarket cooler
we had to see to believe.

The overclocked Ultra Durable VGA
Series GeForce GTX 580 straps Nvidia's
current flagship powerhouse to a large
copper vapor chamber and aluminum
fin heatsink that spans the length of the
board. The Windforce 3X cooler utilizes
a trio of ultra-quiet PWM fans with
specially inclined fins designed to create
less turbulence at higher rpms, which
results in a card capable of running at
higher rpms without producing as
much noise as a stock GTX 580 with
fans running at similar speeds. A pair
of copper heatpipes helps evacuate heat,

and, according to Gigabyte, this card runs
22% cooler than the reference design.

Other Gigabyte staples, such as 2-ounce
copper PCB, Japanese solid caps,
ferrite core chokes, and tier 1 Samsung
and Hynix memory also make this an
attractive option. Gigabyte also bundles
in an HDMI cable, which is a nice bonus.

Our goal here is to get any game on
the market running blisteringly fast, at
high resolutions, with every killer effect
enabled, and all settings maxed out.
We don't like to brag, but we think our
pair of Gigabyte GTX 580s in SLI can
handle that. To see for sure, check out the
benchmarks on page 70. ■

by Andrew Leibman

60 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

BOB

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GX Power Supply Series - Single, powerful 12V rail and 80 Plus Certification for efficient and consistently clean power

delivery to all of your system's components. With GX Power Supplies you get both the power to jumpstart a car and

minimal energy waste, saving your electric bill. Much like a car's lifeblood is its oil, a system doesn't run at its best

without a quality power supply.This comes from an uncompromised quality and workmanship backed by a 5 year

warranty. Expect a GX Power Supply to last long and give your system hardware the power it needs to be

ready to go at a moment's notice.

amazon.com buy.com

micro CEniE?

SPOTLIGHT

OCZ RevoDrive X2 1 00GB

YOU DONT HAVE TO GIVE UP TRIM-LIKE

performance reclamation to run SSDs in
a RAID. Nor do you have to put up with
a bottleneck in the interface — even the
6Gbps SATA variety.

The key is to look beyond SATA SSDs
to a PCI-E model. More specifically, a
bootable PCI-E model on which you
can install an OS. That's an important
distinction, as the OS is a prime
beneficiary of the random file writes and
reads an SSD can offer.

OCZ's RevoDrive X2 has all of this:
RAID 0, idle garbage collection, and
bootability in a x4 PCI-E 1.1 package.
That's correct: It's PCI-E 1.1, but the x4
lane throughput of 8Gbps (lGBps minus
some overhead) means that the interface
won't hold back the drive.

The 100GB edition of this second-gen
RevoDrive can reach 100,000IOps in 4KB
random writes, OCZ says. That's nearly
twice the input/output performance of a
6Gbps SATA-based Vertex 3 SSD using the
newish SandForce SF-2200 series controller.

The drive's other specs will likewise set
your heart a-palpitating. OCZ reports
740MBps reads and 550MBps sustained
writes, with peak writes reaching
690MBps. These stem from a 4-way RAID
consisting of a Silicon Image 3124 chip
riding herd over a quartet of SandForce
SF-1222 controllers. The SandForce chips
also run built-in garbage collection during
idle periods to purge deleted data and
restore write performance.

Step up to a 240GB ($569 online) or
bigger RevoDrive X2, however, and you
might need to reach for the defibrillator.
You'll snag higher write performance
figures such as 120,000IOps, 600MBps
sustained write rates, and peak writes of

RevoDrive X2 100GB

$374.99 (online)

OCZ

www.ocztechnology.com

Performance ratings: 740MBps reads, 550MBps sustained writes (peak writes
690MBps), 100,000IOps 4KB aligned random writes; Power consumption: 4.3W idle,
8.3W active; MTBF: 2 million hours; Interface: x4 PCI-E 1.1 ; Form factor: Full height, 5 x
7.1 x 0.9 inches (HxWxD); Warranty: Three years

720MBps. The read speed will remain the
same at 740MBps, though.

OCZ builds the RevoDrive X2 with
a double-decker PCB design. The
100GB model's boards are half-filled
with Intel 4GB MLC 34nm chips.
All told, our RevoDrive had 128GB
onboard, approximately 28GB of which
was dedicated to overprovisioning for
performance and reliability reasons.

The shocker in all this is the fact that
the X2 is a bit of a bargain, at least
compared with the pricing of earlier
efforts in the PCI-E SSD space. The X2
comes in capacities ranging from 100GB

to 960GB ($3,159 online), and carries a
three-year warranty.

Before you buy, however, do yourself a favor
and check your motherboard s compatibility
online ( bit.ly/ezB9MA ). OCZ notes that
you may need to disable other RAIDs if
they're running on an onboard controller.

Also, be prepared to update your mainboard's
BIOS and supply drivers for the RevoDrive
during your OS installation should you
want to use it as a boot drive. OCZ says that
the X2 is compatible with 64- and 32-bit
versions of Windows 7/Vista/XR ■

by Marty Sems

62 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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SPECS

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Western
Digital Caviar
Black 2TB

Mass Storage

While SSDs work great as boot
drives or for loading games and other
applications quickly, there's still a place
for low-cost, high-capacity hard disk
drives that can hold your music, video,
photos, and other files that take up lots
of space but don't need to be loaded as
fast. Adding Western Digital's Caviar
Black 2TB 3. 5 -inch hard drive to our
benchmark buster as secondary storage
provides the rig with a wealth of capacity
without sacrificing overall performance.

With its SATA 6Gbps interface, 64MB
buffer, and 7,200rpm spindle speed, the
WD Caviar Black 2TB is a formidable

performer. Prior to its introduction early
last year, Western Digital added some
features to this hard drive designed to
improve its performance over previous
Caviar Blacks, including dual actuation
technology for faster seek times and
better positional accuracy, as well as a
StableTrac motor shaft that is locked at
both ends to reduce vibration.

In addition to being faster than its 3Gbps
forebear, the WD2002FAEX is also
slightly quieter under load, with rated
accoustics of 29dBA average in idle mode,
34dBA average in Seek Mode 0, and
30dBA average in Seek Mode 3.

As we mentioned in our original review,
Western Digital makes a nice selection
of software tools available at www
.westerndigital.com. One is the Acronis
True Image WD Edition Software that
lets you clone or migrate data from one
WD drive to another and either keep
or erase the information on the source
drive. You can also set up image backup
and recovery tools using an NAS drive
or optical media. And if you ever need
to test the drive, you can download the
Data Lifeguard Diagnostics for Windows
software from the WD site. ■

by Josh Compton

ft.

CPU/ May 2011 63

SPECS

Corsair

CMZ16GX

3M4A1600C9

Capacity

16GB
(4 x 4GB)

Speed

PC3-12800
(1, 600MHz)

Timings

9-9-9-24

Voltage

1.5V

Warranty

Limited
lifetime

Price I $269 99

Memory:

Corsair Venfeancl

1 6.QB Dual^ChanneTDDRI

jr^^ft'.='% s 5-' Have you ever used Adobe CS5? And
^^iS^^?i we mean really used it — opening one
- ? * : Photoshop file at a time doesn't count, so
v \ ^.\\ •■' sorry. We're talking about true content-
*?fH creation multitasking. When you're
::~[! ;■'"''.. working at that level of productivity, it's

blatantly obvious why Adobe's suite of
** -v .- . apps gets its reputation for eating memory

for breakfast. Rockin' graphics will
make short work of your video games,
and an SSD can blast through boot-up.
But when you hit a system mem-
ory logjam, things can get ugly in
a hurry.

It's time to fight back. For our build,
we wanted to break into double-digit
RAM capacity. Because the Sandy
Bridge platform relies on dual-channel
memory, we selected this 16GB
(four 4GB sticks) kit from Corsair. If
you're new to the game, Corsair has
several lines of RAM. The company's
Dominator series is at the top of the
heap, with clocks and cooling (and a
price) to match. Corsair also sells more
basic memory, bereft of the typical
enthusiast trappings but nonetheless
reliable and perfectly acceptable in
Mom and Dad's PC. The Vengeance
line, which we opted for, has a
Dominator-like bite that didn't take a
Dominator-like bite out of our budget.

Check it: The 16GB Vengeance kit
(model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9)

rolls into our benchmark-stomping
party with a rated speed of DDR3-
1600 with 9-9-9-24 timings. And it can
hit this speed with a voltage rating of
1.5V There's an XMP profile that sets
you up with these specs, and if you're
content to run at that clip, know that
Corsair backs this kit with its limited
lifetime warranty. The aluminum
heat spreaders that sandwich the
Vengeance modules give each stick a
height just a hair beyond 2 inches —
not a concern for our Antec Kuhler
CPU block but nonetheless useful
info if you opt for a more sizable
air cooler.

The results speak for themselves.
Using the XMP profile (l,600MTps,
CAS 9), Corsair's kit powered through
Sandra Lite 2011's memory tests with
20.74GBps of bandwidth. It's easy to

find plenty of reports scattered across
the Web indicating the Vengeance's
penchant for overclocking, but because
we only had one kit available for our
beloved Destroyer, we opted for the
utterly stable performance this memory
gave us at its XMP profile. Whether a
potential performance increase is worth
running the Vengeance out of spec (and
thus voiding its warranty) is a decision
we'll ultimately leave up to you. We
won't fault you if you prefer to merely
observe alligators from a distance rather
than wrestle them.

Either way, when CS5 puts in its
breakfast order, we serve it this 16GB
Vengeance kit, the Denny's Grand
SlamofDDR3.B

byVince Cogley

■j&.ylh>'- 64 May 2011 / www.computerpower-user.coTm

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SPECS

Galaxy EVO

Rated continuous

| 1 ,250W

Rated peak

1 ,500W

+12V rails

+12V continuous

I 30A

+5V continuous

I 25A

+3.3V continuous

25A

80 Plus certification

; Bronze

SLI-certified

; Yes

CrossFireX-certified

I Yes

Modular cables Yes

Cable side

; Motherboard

Fan location

; Bottom

Fans

! 1x 135mm

PCI-E 6+2-pin

: 8

SATA 16

4-pin peripheral

: 6

iW*]*^fca*jTf ^^H

Length

! 7.5 inches

Finish

Black

Warranty

; 5 years

Power Supply:

Enermax Galaxy EVO 1250W

Our gang of cutting-edge components
straight-up dropped the hammer on any
benchmark we threw at it, but you didn't
think all of that performance was free, did
you? The piper has come to collect, and
I you should see his bill. Let's start with the
hungriest component, the GeForce GTX
580 twins, which have the potential to pull
244 watts per card. Intel's Core i7-2600K
demands 95 watts at its busiest. Although
the other components are considerably less
demanding, what happens when we start
getting the itch to expand?

So, when the time comes for our Com-
putasaurus Rex to munch on a hi-def
video encode or slam through Metro
2033's subterranean playground, we need
to start thinking in terms of kilowatts.
That's where Enermax's Galaxy EVO
1250W comes in. This brute throws
down with six +12V rails, each capable
of delivering 30A of current; Enermax
is obviously of the school of thought
that spreading out the load over several
discrete rails is better than funneling it
. all down a single, rail. Regardless of your

persuasion, know that the Galaxy EVO
handled our system's draw without so
much as a hiccup. More modestly, this
power supply supports the C6 CPU state
when you step away from your system
for long periods of time and don't want it
slurping power.

The Galaxy EVO is 80 Plus Bronze-
certified, but that doesn't tell the
full story. When Ecos Plug Load
Solutions, which maintains the 80 Plus
certification process, tested the Galaxy
EVO, the PSU was nearly 89% efficient
at 50% load. That's more of a typical
usage scenario, truth be told, so the
end result here is a power supply that
delivers nearly all of the power it pulls
from the wall straight to your system.

The rear, fan, and cable sides of the
Galaxy EVO have a honeycombed mesh
for additional airflow; speaking of airflow,
a 135mm blower keeps the PSU's guts
cool. Enermax includes its HeatGuard
technology, which is really just a fancy
way of saying the fan keeps running for

up to a minute after you shut down in
order to extend the Galaxy EVO's life
span. That's a good thing.

When it comes to cables, to say the
Enermax unit had us covered is really an
understatement. There are eight — count
'em eight — 6+2-pin PCI-E connectors.
That'll cover even the most exotic
graphics subsystems. Similarly, 16 SATA
and six 4-pin Molex connectors give us
the option to add an absurd number
of drives. Only the 24-pin, 8-pin
CPU, 4+4-pin CPU, and one 6+2-pin
PCI-E cables are hardwired to the unit,
meaning, obviously, we only used the
cables we needed and left the rest stashed
away in the box. The cables themselves
are mesh-sleeved, as you'd expect from a
PSU of this pedigree.

Big, bold, bodacious. However you
choose to describe it, the Galaxy EVO is
irrefutably able to power the hungriest rig
you can imagine. ■

byVince Cogley

'"■Mgflgfr 66 May 2011 / www.computerpower-user.coTm

,/. ■ ■*

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•

iPOTLICHT'

Lite-On iHBS21 2 1 2X Blu-ray Disc Writer

Lite-On wants everyone to know that
its iHBS212 Internal 12X Blu-ray Disc
Writer can write up to 25 GB on a BD-R
disc in roughly 12 minutes (and can store
50GB on a dual-layer BD-R, too). In our
lab test, burning 21.6GB took about 23
minutes with an average burn speed of
3.5X, so we expect that upcoming BD
media that supports faster write speeds
will cut down on burn time significantly.
One thing that you won't have to wait for
is support for 3D Blu-ray playback, as the
iHBS212 supports it out of the box.

Packaged with the iHBS212 is the
CyberLink BD Solution Blu-ray Disc
suite (more on that below), standard
mounting screws, and a SATA cable.
The 5.25-inch drive is not only
compliant with single- and dual-
layer formats of all three BD media
(BD-ROM, BD-R, BD-RE), but
it also supports 8cm and 12cm CDs
and DVDs. DVD±R writing speed
tops out at 16X; CD-R writes at 48X.

MBS21212x Internal
Blu-Ray Disc Writer

Lite-On

$159.99

us.liteonit.com/us

SATA interface; 8MB buffer; 250ms/320ms
random access time (SL/DL BD); ABS system noise
reduction; Smart-X data extraction; LightScribe 1.2
support; OS: Windows 7/Vista/XP SP2

" **?*

And, although you need to take into
account burnable disc quality, Lite-On
has already incorporated Smart-Burn, a
feature that selects the most appropriate
write speed for the disc to minimize
burn failures.

The CyberLink suite is the hub for
making audio CDs, burning data
discs, creating videos (to disc, HDV/
DV, or local storage), and initiating
system backups. Through CyberLink,
you can access Power2Go InstantBurn
for writing folders and files to CD-
RW, DVD-RW, DVD+RW, and BD-
RE; PowerBackup for archiving &
restoring; and PowerDirector video
editor. PowerDVD lets you watch a
Blu-ray or DVD flick. In addition, the

software supports Blu-ray 3D playback.
Under CyberLink Utilities, you'll find
LabelPrint, which helps you design
high-resolution art for your BDs.

Whether you want to install the BD
writer in your HTPC or pop it in your
ongoing build, you should expect minimal
vibration and operational noise. Lite-On
added an ABS system that tempers the
whirr and din of high-speed rotation.

If you're interested in a fast and quiet Blu-ray
disc writer, the Lite-On iHBS212 is worth
the investment, particularly because of the
CyberLink software bundle. All around, it's a
legitimate "best of" optical drive. ■

by Joanna Clay

...■'<$%

Antec Kiihler H 2 620

The prevailing notion among builders
of high-performance systems made up of
carefully selected, expensive components
is that stock cooling just won't cut it. Still,
that leaves a question of what aftermarket
cooler to use. Provided there's headroom, a
skyscraping, dual-tower unit with snaking
copper heatpipes might make sense, for
example. For those planning to show off
the rig's internals, a cooler with LEDs or a
flashy, chrome-like finish might be in order.
Other builders will opt for liquid-cooling
but still must decide whether to piece the
setup together themselves or buy a self-
contained, closed-loop unit that's ready to
go out of the box. We took the latter route.

The all-black Kuhler H 2 620 is Antec's
first attempt at a self-contained cooling unit,
and it's a good one, made possible in part
by Antec collaborating on the design with
Asetek, which has a track record of helping
bring other closed-loop units to market.
Bundling Intel LGA 775/1155/1156/1366
and AMD AM2/AM3/AM2 + /AM3 +
mounting kits, the H2O 620 consists of
four major pieces sturdily constructed of
hard plastic, steel, and aluminum. Among
these is a pump unit sporting a copper cold
plate underneath.

With the extremely low-profile pump (1.1-
inch tall; 50,000-hour rated life span) in
tow, the 620 sends anticorrosive liquid
through a pair of 13-inch tubes that are
firm yet easily bendable, a trait that makes
finding ideal orientation for the H2O
620 less of a headache. The tubes attach
to what's essentially a standard 5.6-inch
tall radiator housing a dozen vertical rows
of tightly packed fins. A seven-blade,
120mm fan, which you must connect
to the radiator yourself and then to the
chassis' backside, blows air outward at
1,450 to 2,000rpm regulated speeds, with
the settings being part of Antec's "Quiet
Computing" cooling approach.

Kuhler H 2 620

$69.95

Antec

www.antec.com

120mm PWM fan (1 ,450 to 2,000rpm); Copper cold plate; Radiator dimensions:
5.6 x 4.7 x 1.1 inches (HxWxD); 13-inch corrugated tubes (prefilled)

Installing the H2O 620 requires roughly
12 individual steps, which really break
down into three major movements:
attaching the appropriate CPU bracket,
mounting the pump, and attaching the
radiator/fan to the chassis. Beyond the
impressive cooling performance you're
getting for a very fair price, the quickness
and ease of the H2O 620 's installation is
arguably its most alluring attribute. That
ease carries over into maintenance chores,
of which there are essentially none, as the
620 comes prefilled and requires no after-
installation tinkering.

One item of note is that, as is the case
with some other closed-looped coolers,
the H2O 620 ships with a layer of
thermal grease pre-applied to the copper
plate. (Antec nicely safeguards the grease
layer with a tightly secured plastic cover.)
This will please some but cause others
more particular about such things to
reach for some cleaner and reapply a
fresh layer. Regardless, the H2O 620 is a
no-fuss, top-performing, liquid-cooling
option for conceivably any builder. ■

by Blaine Flamig

68 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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Rear 120mm x 1 @1500RPM

I/O Port: PC-K63/K59 USB 3.0 x 1 / USB 2.0x1/ e-SATA x 1 / HD Audio

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Benchmark Results

3DMark1

3DMark Overall
Graphics Score
Physics Score
Combined Score
Graphics Test 1*
Graphics Test 2*
Graphics Test 3*
Graphics Test 4*
Physics Test*
Combined Test*
PCMark Vantage Pro 1.0.2

Memories

TV And Movies

Gaming

DIY Destroyer
Stock

DIY Destroyer
Overclocked

Communications
Productivity

SiSoft Sandra 201 1 Lite
Processor Arithmetic

Dhrystone iSSE4.2 (GIPS)

Whetstone iSSE3 (GFLOPS)

Processor Multi-Media

x16iSSE4.1 (Mpixels/s)

x8 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s)

x4 iSSE2 (Mpixels/s)

Memory Bandwidth

Integer Buffered
iSSE2 (GBps)

Floating-Point Buffered
iSSE2 (GBps)

Media Transcode

Transcode WMV (KBps)

Transcode H264 (KBps)

984

1150

Cinebench 11.5

CPU***

6.86

9.16

*fps

** pixels per second

*** points

Games tested at 1 ,920 x 1 ,200.

Benchmark Results

DIY Destroyer
Stock

DIY Destroyer
Overclocked

POV-Ray 3.7 Beta**

1204.4

1595.42

CrystalDiskMark 3.0.1 (MBps)

Sequential Read
Sequential Write
512KB Random Read
512KB Random Write
4KB Random Read QD1
4KB Random Write QD1
4KB Random Read QD32

4KB Random Write QD32

178.8

146.9

Unigine Heaven 2.5

FPS
Score

61.7
1554

63.6
1602

Aliens vs. Predator
(4XAA)

81.8

85.1

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:

Call of Pripyat (4XAA)

84.4

85.6

* fps

** pixels per second

*** points

Games tested at 1 ,920 x 1 ,200.

m#tiSfr 70 May 2011 / www.computerpower-user.coTm

<■' '*

■"" V, .,',':.'

■ •

If there was ever any question
about what exactly this PC destroys,
consider your curiosity quenched. Out
of the box, the DIY Destroyer posted
impressive numbers in 3DMark 11,
PCMark Vantage, and Sandra 2011.
The OCZ RevoDrive X2 PCI-E SSD
propelled this system to some of the
highest HDD benchmark scores we've
ever seen, particularly in PCMark and
CrystalDiskMark.

It wasn't until we overclocked the Intel
Core i7-2600K to 4.7GHz, however,
that this system truly lived up to its
namesake. In every benchmark where
the CPU performance matters (read:
most of them), there was a sharp rise in
our scores. Sandra's Processor Arithmetic
and Multi-Media test scores rose by
between 32% and 37%, the Cinebench
score climbed by 34%, 3DMark 11 's
Physics score increased by 30%, and

POV-Ray showed a 32% bump with our
overclocked Sandy Bridge chip.

The performance here is undeniable, 'but
on the more subjective side, the system
boots in the blink of an eye, runs quietly
even under load, and very much looks the
part inside and out. Best of all, this system
could be yours. Stay tuned for details. ■

by Andrew Leibman .^

CPU/ May 2011 71

LOADING ZONE

THE BLEEDING EDGE DF SDFTWARE

Inside The World Of Betas

Nomad.NET 2.8.7.1725 RC

Windows 7 has a lot of users of the classic
Explorer searching for something
that looks and feels familiar yet also has
some power tools to make the switchover
worthwhile. We look at a number of such
tools elsewhere in this issue (see "Exploring
Explorer Alternatives"), but Nomad.NET is
currently in a funny position. Nomad.NET
is the sequel to Nomad, a well-regarded file
manager for Win95 through WinXP written
in Borland's Delphi, which is an evolutionary
dead end in the Windows 7 universe. It's
written by the same author, (though this
time using, obviously, Microsoft .NET) so it
feels like a well thought-out program despite
being so "young." However, being in beta, it
still has some glitches and lacks a few features.
It didn't seem right to pit it against its mature
(and usually commercial) competition, so
we're checking it out here.

You can set Nomad.NET like a classic
two-pane file manager, with or without
a folder tree and either vertically or
horizontally. Each pane has its own live path
name navigation bar, complete with clickable
folder names, so navigating around is very
quick. Like most modern file managers,
Nomad.NET makes use of tabs, but unlike
many utilities, tabs in Nomad.NET work
on all the panes, letting you quickly set dual
vertical panes in one tab, dual horizontal in
another, and so forth.

Nomad.NET includes a few useful tools,
as well. Our favorite is the Search tool, which
provides a nice GUI for building regular
expression searches, either in the selected
folder or in all folders.

A few glitches mar the software, how-
ever. It sometimes crashes when trying to
save its state (allowing it to resume where

ns r r_

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^ ~«

Nomad.NET 2.8.7.1725 RC

Publisher and URL: Eugene Sichkar,

www.nomad-net.info

ETA: Q4 2011

Why You Should Care: A new twist on a classic

file management idea.

it left off last time), and mouseover effects
occasionally leave residual "shadows" that
are distracting. Still, we think Nomad
.NET has great potential.

by Warren Ernst

JunctionMaster 0.1 Alpha

One feature of Linux and Unix power
users find useful is the symbolic link, or
"symlink" for short, which essentially lets you
reference a file in one location with a link
that looks and acts just like that file, but in
another location. A little known fact is that
NTFS supports symbolic links, and that it
also supports what amounts to symbolic links
for folders, though they're named "NTFS
junction points" in Redmond-speak.

Frustratingly, Microsoft never included
any tools for making junction points
with Windows. Instead, various utilities
have picked up the slack over the years.
From the creators of Process Lasso comes
JunctionMaster, which makes creating
and removing junction points a snap.

JunctionMaster combines two functions
in one straightforward GUI: It creates
junction points and then automatically
moves files from the original location into

the new one. As an example, suppose
you have files stored in C:\Program Files\
GreatEditor, and you would rather have
them in D:\GreatEditor. Just use Explorer
to navigate to the Program Files folder,
right-click the GreatEditor folder and
choose Move And Then Link Folder to. . .
and then type D:\GreatEditor in the dialog
box that appears. Then click Move And
Link; JunctionMaster creates the folder D:\
GreatEditor, moves the files into it, deletes
the original folder, and makes a junction
point at C:\Program Files\GreatEditor that
points to D:\GreatEditor. Both "folders"
(as far as all your software can tell) contain
the same files, not copies, so there are no
synchronization issues to worry about.

Why would you want to do this?
Imagine moving certain programs to
your new SSD drive without reinstalling
them. Store your personal files off the root

JunctionMaster 0.10 Alpha

Publisher and URL: Bitsum,

www.bitsum.com/junctionmaster.php

ETA: Q4 2011

Why You Should Care: Creating NTFS junction

points is as easy as making a new folder.

folder of your drive instead of buried deep
in the /Users folder, and so forth.

The alpha contains dire warnings
and cautions, but if you make regular
backups, we think this well-crafted
software is worth the risk.

by Warren Ernst

72 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

®Enermax

MRE3REVO

1% to platinum, up to 94% efficiency

ErP Lot 6

PLUS

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FULL MODULAR DESIGN

Advanced +5Vsb circuitry with up to 20%
improved efficiency compared to generic designs
helps your system meet ErP Lot 6 2010 (AC < 1 W
at standby) requirement
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LOADING ZONE

UP TD SPEED

Upgrades That'll Keep You Humming Along

The big software update this month for Windows is Windows itself.
Meanwhile, Google updates both Chrome Beta and Docs.

Software Updates
FinalWire AIDA641.60

The diagnostic and benchmark suite
increases support for Intel's new Sandy
Bridge CPUs and adds support for
AMD's recently released Ontario and
Zacate APUs (accelerated processing
units). Better support for AMD and
JMicron RAID controllers has been
added, as well. Version 1.60 optimizes
AIDA's 64-bit AVX-accelerated fractal
and security benchmarks.

www.aida64.com

Google Chrome 10 Beta

The latest beta release of the Google
browser boasts considerably faster
JavaScript execution. This build introduces
support for GPU-accelerated video
playback, which Google claims can reduce
CPU load by as much as 80%. The beta
now lets users sync their saved Chrome
passwords across computers.
www.g oo gle.com/landing/chrome/beta

Google Docs Viewer

Google has added a considerable
number of file formats that this handy
Web app can handle. With the intro-
duction of Microsoft Excel (.XLS and
.XLSX) and PowerPoint (.PPTX) support,
Docs Viewer can display files from the
three main Microsoft Office apps (Word,
Excel, and PowerPoint). Apple Pages,
Adobe Photoshop, and Autodesk AutoCad
files are among the 12 new formats Docs
Viewer now supports.

docs.g oo gle.com /viewer

MouseFighter 5.4.4

This utility replaces many mouse
functions with keyboard alternatives for
mouse-less computing. The new version
corrects a problem with the Advanced

Settings screen not saving changed settings.
The keyboard mouse movement has been
changed from a minimum of one pixel to
two to make navigation faster.

www.mousefighter.com

MSI Afterburner 2.1.0

The latest release of the overclocking
tool for MSI-branded video cards
introduces an integrated video-capture
tool for recording your in-game escapades.
MSI also adds support for AMD Barts
and Cayman GPUs. Core voltage control
for many of AMD and Nvidia's current
reference cards is included, as well.

event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/
download.htm

MediaPortal 1.1.2

The open-source media center
application receives a fix to a memory leak
in the Texture Manager. Version 1.1.2
also stops instant channel switching after
resuming paused live TV.

www.teanvmediaportal.com

Microsoft Windows 7 SP1

Windows 7 gets its first Service Pack. As
has been the case for the last few Windows
OSes, you probably already have much, if
not all, of these updates, because SP1 rolls
up previous security patches and other bug
and performance fixes. Microsoft says that
this update also improves the dependability
of connecting to HDMI audio devices,
printing with the XPS Viewer, and
restoring folders after a restart.

windows.microsoft.com/
installwindows7sp1

Mumble 1.2.3

This voice chat client designed for in-
game use receives a long-awaited update.
The latest version boasts enhanced voice

activity detection, especially in noisy
environments. New features include a
customizable overlay, recording capability,
and speaker prioritization.

mumble.sourceforge.net

Partition Logic 0.7

The incremental version numbering
doesn't do this update justice. The hard
drive partitioning tool now has support
for 64-bit disks, UDF file system, and
GPT partition table.

partitionlogic.org .uk

Pegasus Mail 4.61

This alternative email client has a new
HTML Tenderer based on Internet Explorer.
Its graphics and interface have been upgraded,
as well. A litany of bug fixes includes proper
rendering of HTML messages with long lines
and stopping crashes caused by malformed
messages, among others.

www.pmail.com

Trend Micro RUBotted 2.0 Beta

Trend Micro's free tool monitors your
PC for bot activity. This build bolsters
RUBotted's detection of suspicious
activity and infection cleaning. Status and
log reports are now available, too.

free.antivirus.com/rubotted

Driver Bay

Intel X18-M/X25 & X25-V SATA SSDs

(34nm) Firmware Revision 2CV102M3

Some of Intel's popular SSDs receive this
new firmware, which corrects enumeration
and slow-boot issues on 6Gbps controllers.
The upgrade also improves drive health
reporting and eliminates possible drive hangs
when reading S.M.A.R.T. self-test log.

www.intel.com

by Steve Smith

74 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

LOADING ZONE

xpionng txporer
ternatives

Third-Party File System Wranglers

There's no doubt that Windows 7 is
generally more pleasing to the eye than
its forebears, and part of that comes from
simply reducing the clutter in common
windows. Nowhere is this more evident
than the humble Windows Explorer
(which Microsoft continues to simply and
confusingly call "The Explorer"), which in
Win7 no longer has teeny-tiny fonts, fussy
little plus (+) symbols next to folders, a
row of inscrutable toolbar buttons, or even
pull-down menus.

However, other than moving a few
common commands from deep within
a menu to a button ("New Folder" and
"Burn," anyone?), Microsoft didn't really
add much new functionality to Win-
dows Explorer, keeping the market for

So, to see how far this innovation
has come, we invited four commercial
Explorer alternatives, along with a free
one, to a battle royale on a 64-bit Win7
machine, with spot-checking in good
ol' WinXP, as well. Ultimately, we're
pleasantly surprised at the different slants
each of these products has taken within
the market, leaving us thinking that
there's something for almost any kind of
Windows power user.

GPSoftware Directory Opus 9.5.6

Okay, there's no dancing around
the issue of price: Directory Opus runs
approximately $85 (depending on
the U.S. /Australian exchange rate), or
between two and three times as much as
its commercial com-
petitors, and it has for
over a decade. That GP

Directory Opus 9.5.6

$86

GPSoftware

www.gpsoft.com.au

high-powered Explorer alternatives alive
and well. It did, however, add Libraries to
the default My Documents hierarchy, and
it encouraged the use of 64-bit Windows,
meaning Explorer alternatives needed to
innovate for the first time in a little while.

Software has been in
business for that long
should be an indicator
that Directory Opus
is extremely good, but
what's surprising is that in some ways it is
the least innovative Explorer alternative
here. In reality, Directory Opus follows
the simple plan of "being familiar" by
working pretty much like the Windows
Explorer in WinXP, "being flexible" by

being so configurable, and "being feature-
filled" by stuffing it with functionality
you'd normally need lots of extra utilities
to accomplish. It's a winning combination.

The classic Explorer alternative is dual-
paned, allowing you to view two folders
in one split window, and Directory Opus
does this both vertically and horizon-
tally. However, if you prefer the classic
"Norton Commander" view, or a clone of
Microsoft's Explorer, or a single window,
or a filmstrip view, or a thumbnail view,
Directory Opus has tabs to instantly
switch. Each pane can itself be tabbed (a
common feature among all the products),
so really, you can quickly jump to dozens
of folders on your drive in a flash.

Many Explorer alternatives provide a
preview pane or window, letting you select
an image or office file and see its contents,
but Directory Opus' is head and shoulders
above its competition, recognizing more
office, multimedia, and graphics files and
displaying them correctly and quickly.

Directory Opus includes numerous extra
utilities, including an FTP client, a bulk
file renamer, a batch graphics file converter,
a folder synchronizer, a folder comparer,
a find file tool, a file attribute changer,
a folder printer, a file splitter and joiner,
and a ZIP file utility; each is full-featured.
Directory Opus has its own file copying
and moving routines that are multithreaded
and handle errors and questions much
better than Windows' own functionality. A
native 64-bit version is available.

In many ways, Directory Opus has
become the benchmark against which
other Explorer alternatives are measured.
After using it, we can see why.

CPU/ May 2011 75

LOADING ZONE

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Ghisler Software Total
Commander 7.56a

You can tell a file manipulation program
is old-school when its icon is a 3.5-inch
floppy disk, as is Total Commander's.
Total Commander is meant to be the
spiritual successor to the classic Norton
Commander, which arguably originated
the concept of the dual-pane file manager.
As such, it embraces shortcuts and methods
that Microsoft's Explorer left by the wayside
decades ago. Yes, you can make Total
Commander look more . . . "conventional"
. . . but if you aren't willing to embrace the
different, Total Commander will leave you
cold despite its power and utility.

By default, Total Commander looks
like a Windows version of any one of
a dozen classic "commander" tools,
complete with dark, blocky fonts and
a row of buttons at the bottom of the
window proclaiming "F3 View," "F4
Edit," "F5 Copy," "F6 Move," and so on.
Although you can click these buttons with
your mouse to perform the prescribed
action (or drag and drop — more on this
in a moment) you're supposed to select
source files in one pane, display the
destination in the other pane, and then
press the Function Key to perform the
action. Once you get all the different
and unusual (or "classic," if you rather)
keyboard shortcuts down, you really can
blaze through your file manipulation
tasks. That said, we were able to quickly
change fonts and told Total Commander
to display folder trees, which then made
it aware of Win7 Library folders; we
consider this a necessity.

Total Commander 7.56

$42

Ghisler Software

www.ghisler.com

If you choose to drag and drop,
things are different here, too. In
Total Commander, you select files
and folders with a right-click and
select groups with a right-click-and-
drag. Want to use another utility that
requires the pop-up menu? Look
under Total Commander's File menu.
Total Commander is also stuffed
to the gills with utilities, including a
compression tool, a file splitter and encoder
(UUEncode, anyone?), multi-rename tool,
a folder sync and comparison tool, a file
finder, FTP client, and a preview pane.
All are powerful except the preview pane,
which basically just displays text and hex.

In the end, we suspect Total Commander
will really only appeal to users yearning for
the Norton Commander experience, or
those looking for lots of features for less
money than Directory Opus. If you're one
of these users, look no further.

Zabkat xplorer 2 1.8.1.2

Sort of splitting the difference between
the "make it work like

tree. The folder tree doesn't update itself
based on what folder pane you're working
in, however, and that leads to confusion
and frustration. On the other hand, the
folder tree pane is smart enough to scroll
horizontally to best display any selected
long and nested folder names as if by
magic; the competition should all steal this
feature immediately.

Also handy in xplorer 2 is its Scrap
Container concept, which is best thought
of as a temporary virtual folder where aliases
of files you later want to perform actions
on are stored. Suppose you want to zip up
several files from many different folders.
Just drag them into a Scrap Container, then
select them all and drag then into WinZip,
and they're then zipped up together. The
software can use several Scrap Containers
at once, with each appearing in its own
window or a small pane.

The preview pane is more complicated,
yet ineffectual, than it should be. It
contains two tabs, Draft and Native —
one works with some file formats and
one works with others; it's up to you to
remember which is which and click it.
Sometimes Native just opens the file (such
as a DOCX file) in its default program
(Word 2007, in this example).

the Explorer" and the
"make it work like

xplorer 2 1.8.1.2

$29.95

Zabkat

www.zabkat.com

<L :\Us«i\vwTnH7l»:ijnw(s'.M>i Mot* Cjpihutr *>rcj«f s\!«t

nothing else" camps,

xplorer 2 possesses

certain features that

are pure genius yet omits others that

seem obvious. However, it does so at a

compelling price that makes experimenting

with it worthwhile.

You could think of xplorer 2 as a three-
pane browser, in that it displays two
panes for two different folders, but both
of these panes share a common folder

nm/M/jDiam»0AM iji*

Many of the utilities you'd expect (FTP,
folder sync and compare, multi-threaded
copy routines) are here, as well as some you
wouldn't (SVN icon compatibility, NTFS
junction creation). But xplorer 2 is missing a
native compression tool that's kind of par for
the course in this segment (though it does
work with ZIP files as if they were folders).

76 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

LOADING ZONE

Xyplorer 9.90

Xyplorer and xplorer 2 rather feel like
brothers where the family only had enough
money to send one to prep school: Both
appear remarkably similar, using a similar
pane arrangement where a folder tree is
shared between two directory panes.
However, whereas xplorer 2 focuses on main
features, Xyplorer focuses a bit more on the
smaller details, and we'll be darned if we
aren't charmed by all the thought that must
have gone into them.

A little detail that makes a big difference
is that the folder pane always accurately
reflects what's currently selected in one
of the two folder panes, so you never lose
track of where you are in your hard drive.
Another is a new list view called Details
With Thumbnails, which displays files in a
table with the typical "Detailed" information
(extension, date modified, file size) but
also with a thumbnail next to the file
name. Yet another is a tabbed Properties
pane, which displays properties, a fully
functional Preview, version details, and more
information about the selected file, sort
of like the Properties panel displays object
attributes in Adobe CS5 products. One
unique little feature is a command called
"Copy (or Move) With Increment" which

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FreeCommander 2009.02b

Free

Marek Jasinski

www.freecommander.com

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another handy time saver. You
can also tag and color-code files or
file types, and there's even a basic
scripting language.

Sadly, Xyplorer lacks a file
compression tool and doesn't
even display ZIP files natively,
meaning you need a separate
utility to do meaningful compression
work. Nobody's perfect.

FreeCommander 2009.02b

FreeCommander suggests two things
about itself by its very name, and only one
is correct. Yes, it is free (though donations
are appreciated), but no, it doesn't emulate
Norton Commander. In fact, it looks and
feels a lot like Directory Opus' default two-
pane view (which in turn looks and feels
like two of WinXP's Windows Explorer
windows pushed together), but without
some of the clutter Directory Opus'
overwhelming list of features creates.

If what you're really looking for is

WinXP's Windows Explorer in Win7, then

FreeCommander is a fine choice,

as it basically just adds a few handy

interface tweaks to a familiar

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Xyplorer 9.90

$42.95

Donald Lessau
www.xyplorer.com

».- -MHi :.3'm) WU:i.

adds an "01" or "02" to file names copied
(or moved) this way, and is a big time saver if
you normally increment file names yourself.

Xyplorer also possesses a scrap container
of sorts called a Catalog, but its version can
store drag-and-drop launchers, display filter
icons, and use categories and collapsible
menus to keep it tidy. It's very flexible and

interface, such as lots of toolbar
buttons for common commands
(such as creating folders, deleting
files, filtering the display list, etc.), plus adds
common file tools like a compare and sync
tool, a multifile renamer, a shredder, and a
compression tool. Like all of its commercial
competition, it displays tabs to allow the
same pane to work with different directory
locations, and it has bookmarks for your
favorite folders.

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FreeCommander also offers a preview
window called "Quick View," but it
annoyingly replaces one of the two folder
panes. It does a good job previewing text
files, graphics files, MP3s, and even PDFs,
but it fails completely on Microsoft Office
files. The biggest problem, however, is that
it doesn't seem to know anything about
Win7's Libraries, requiring you to drill
deep into the file structure to get to your
files. Yes, you can (and really have to) add
these folders to FreeCommander's Favorites
list, but it gets annoying fast. It also doesn't
have its own multithreaded copy and move
routines, relying on Windows' own.

Still, these negatives are hardly worth
complaining about given FreeCommander's
price and the lack of any of these fea-
tures with Microsoft's own tools. It's really
only in comparison to its commercial
competition that FreeCommander seems
just slightly lacking.

Your Call

Again, we arrive at the unsatisfying
situation where the best product for you
is the one that works the way you do.
Norton Commander clone users won't
find a better 'Commander than Total
Commander. Folks who want the utmost
in flexibility and extra features, plus
those who like their Explorer alternative
working like the Explorer itself will prefer
Directory Opus, or for those without
money, FreeCommander. If the idea of a
three-pane Explorer appeals to you, then
Xyplorer gets the nod.

by Warren Ernst

CPU/ May 2011 77

LOADING ZONE

ion Monitor March

Multimonitor Software Stretches The Limits Of Your Desktop

With University of Utah research
showing that multimonitor setups
can dramatically improve productivity,
and with the price of widescreen
monitors plummeting faster than ever,
it's no wonder that seeing two or three
monitors on someone's desk is becoming
more commonplace.

Windows has always supported mul-
tiple monitors, but before Windows XP,
that duty was normally handled by video
card manufacturers and drivers, with
varying results. WinXP included very
basic multimonitor support, letting you
set a primary and secondary monitor (at
different resolutions, if desired), but not
much else. Thus, the stage was set for
early multimonitor utilities.

Win7 is a little more aware of multiple
displays. It lets you set the display
orientation of each independently and
even has hotkeys to connect to a projector
quickly. But it doesn't add much more
than that. Win7 still displays a separate
instance of your background wallpaper on
each of your displays. It still only displays
a Start menu/Taskbar/Taskbar Tray on
your primary display, leaving your other
screens naked along the bottom. It still
stretches a single screen saver across all
your displays, potentially distorting
images. And, compared to Linux, there
are few controls for managing lots of open
program windows across all your displays.

Multimonitor utilities address these
and other problems, but until quite
recently, most didn't integrate well with
Win7's Aero visual effects and could be
glitchy with the 64-bit version of Win7.
With this in mind, we rounded up five
multimonitor utilities, including the
granddaddy of them all (UltraMon), two

J UHraMon option*

Profiles and Shortcuts Compaobllrty j Customization , ignored Monitors
General Smart Tadcbsr Buttons and Menu Commands | Hotkeys

Manege multiple applications efficiently with a taskbar on each monitor,
h£ use Srrwrt Taskbar

■9 Standard - each taskbar miry shows tasks from the
Mirror - eo* taskbar shows- all tasks

Process priority: [bow

p" the taskbar seems unresponsive, try increasing: (he
| More options... |

iglai#l^l €TTr Firp ^ l

UltraMon 3.1.0

$39.95

Realtime Soft

www.realtimesoft.com

young upstarts (DisplayFusion and Actual
Multiple Monitors), and two that market
themselves as doing slightly less than the
competition but which turn out to be
reasonably comparable (MultiMonitor
Taskbar and ZBar). We tested each of
these programs with the 64-bit version of
Win7 Ultimate running two widescreen
(1,900 x 1,200) LCD monitors.

Realtime Soft UltraMon 3.1.0

UltraMon created this market segment,
setting the bar that its competitors are aiming
for, so it seems only fair to look at it first as a
benchmark. It is a role UltraMon fulfills well.

UltraMon's secondary taskbar is auto-
matically set to visually clone whatever
the primary Taskbar is set for, and we
were hard-pressed to see the difference.
The background color accurately followed
our cursor as it hovered over minimized
icons, even duplicating the background
color tint. Sadly, the mimicry is only skin-
deep: You can't pin icons to this taskbar
or shuffle icons' order, and there's no Aero

Peek functionality (that
is, a live thumbnail of the
running app that appears
when hovering the cur-
sor over a Taskbar icon),
which we didn't think we'd
miss until it was gone.
There's also no notification
area/taskbar tray, clock/
calendar, Start menu, or
Show Desktop button.
Like most of the oth-
er multimonitor utilities, UltraMon adds
two buttons to the Title Bar of every
application window. One shifts the current
window to the next monitor — no dragging
necessary — while the other maximizes the
current window across all your monitors.
Although UltraMon can't add any more
Title Bar buttons, it does have 25 actions
you can assign hotkeys to, such as cascade
or tile all windows, center the mouse on
the current monitor, show the desktop, or
launch the Screensaver. This is a repeating
trend with UltraMon: It covers the basics, uh,
basically but nonetheless reliably. We never
experienced a glitch or crash with UltraMon.
UltraMon also adds some extra features
that are slightly unexpected. For example,
you can easily specify different wallpaper
from your hard drive for each display, or
one that stretches across all of them, but
that's it. You can do slightly more with
screen savers (such as blank the nonprimary
displays and/or set an unlock password),
but UltraMon tosses in Profiles (collections
of settings saved under a set name), basic

78 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

LOADING ZONE

Actual Multiple Monitors 3.1

$39.95

Actual Tools

www.actualtools.com

scripting and shortcuts (so
a program always starts
on a certain display at a
certain size), and selective I
mirroring (displaying I
only one application on a
secondary monitor for a
presentation, for example).

Overall, UltraMon is a safe and solid way
to go, but there are areas where it has met its
match, and at $39.95, that includes price.

Actual Tools Actual
Multiple Monitors 3.1

Some multimonitor utilities make it
obvious that the secondary taskbars they're
creating are really "Taskbar emulators,"
programmed independently from scratch to
look, feel, and act as much like Microsoft's
own Taskbar as possible. When it comes
to Win7's new Taskbar, at least, Actual's
programmers have done a far better job of
cloning Microsoft's work than anyone else.
So if what you really want is the most full-
featured taskbar on your extra displays, look
no further than Actual Multiple Monitors.

For starters, AMM's taskbars look
almost exactly like the native Taskbar.
The only difference we can see is a tiny
row of textured dots between its Start
menu and the row of application icons.
Yes, you read that right, its Start menu.
AMM has one, and it looks and feels
just like Windows' own, including the
Search field and application context
menus. It even responds to pressing the
Windows key, if that's the display that has
the active application. Taskbar buttons
are repositionable, pin-able, have all the
new subdocument and command context
menus, and have Aero Peek. Minimized
apps even minimize to AMM's own
taskbar buttons instead of those on the
main Taskbar, like all of its competition.
Toss in a calendar/ clock, Display Desktop
button, and even a second notification
area/ tray, and the simulation is top-notch.

Desktop
wallpaper
and screen
saver options
are nearly
identical to
UltraMon's,
though
AMM also
offers a
wallpaper
slideshow
option. Just point it to photos on your
hard drive, and it cycles through them. It
also offers UltraMon's profiles, hotkey, and
mirroring abilities with minor differences not
worth mentioning.

AMM also (optionally) adds Title Bar
buttons for moving windows to different
displays and maximizing across all displays,
but they can be troublesome. (Although, to
be fair, we reviewed a stable beta version in
order to experience the latest features.) Most
of the Adobe CS5 applications with the new
Windows GUI freeze when closing when
these buttons are enabled, and all of Paint.
NET's palette "mini-windows" get them,
too, but they're offset until they're floating in
space, so to speak, and sometimes don't work
anyway. You can selectively disable these
buttons via AMM's overly complex GUI.

We encountered no such glitches with
AMM's awesome Taskbar, and believe it
to be the best choice for those wanting a
supercharged set of extra Taskbars.

Binary Fortress Software
DisplayFusion Pro 3.2.0.112 (Beta 12)

If Actual Multiple Monitors is all about
the Taskbar experience, then DisplayFusion

Pro is all about window management and
extra features. It also happens to be the
least expensive of the three "full-featured"
utilities covered here. (Editor's Note:
Although DisplayFusion Pro 3.3 is now avail-
able, we reviewed this version at the
publishers request))

Of course, there are taskbars for the extra
displays, and feature-wise, it slots comfortably
between UM and AMM. It looks and feels
like Win7's Taskbar and includes a clock/
calendar on the right side that looks just
like the original. There's no Start menu or
notification area, but the best features of
the native Win 7 Taskbar are there. You can
reorder icons via drag and drop, and there's
an Aero Peek clone that works close enough.
DisplayFusion Pro also includes a "mini-
registry" of a few zillion settings for tweaking
it visually and operationally.

DisplayFusion Pro can add nearly 20 Title
Bar buttons across your application windows
if you like. The default Swap Display and
Maximize Across All buttons are there, but
there are interesting buttons, such as Toggle
Window Transparency or Resize Window
To 75% And Center, that we never knew
we'd use every day until we tried them. You
can make hotkeys for all these functions, too.
Other neat window tricks include having
Windows automatically snap to display
edges or other windows (basically like Aero
Snap, but configurable on a per-window
basis), or having windows automatically
position and resize themselves.

Whereas UltraMon has lots of little
extra features, DisplayFusion Pro goes for
fewer extras that do more. For example,
DisplayFusion Pro can change the
background of the Windows logon screen,
sparing you from searching for a
second utility to do this. The wallpaper
functionality goes beyond just letting
you pick images on your hard drive and
then alternating them on a schedule:
It can grab images from Flickr or
Vladstudio.com, either searching by

DisplayFusion Pro 3.2.0.112 (Beta 12)

$25

Binary Fortress Software

www.binaryfortress.com

CPU/ May 2011 79

LOADING ZONE

account, keyword, or category. There are also
cropping and offsetting options the other
utilities lack. For screen savers, DisplayFusion
Pro lacks the ability to automatically turn off
certain displays with a checkbox, but you can
manually set Windows' screen savers to do
this and then use DisplayFusion Pro to direct
those to the displays you want off.

DisplayFusion Pro also undercuts
its competition's prices, sometimes
significantly, at just $25.

Mediachance MultiMonitor
TaskBar Pro 3.0

Compared to the everything- and-the-
kitchen-sink philosophy of some of these
utilities, MultiMonitor TaskBar Pro feels like
a one-trick pony. But sometimes you only
want your pony to do one trick. That said,
at $28, it's more expensive than the more
capable DisplayFusion Pro.

As its name suggests, MultiMonitor
TaskBar Pro only provides a taskbar across
multiple monitors; if you need screen savers
or wallpapers across all your displays, keep
looking. Also, if you need your TaskBar to
look like a semi-transparent, Win7-esque
sheet of glass, you're out of luck: Taskbar
themes include Windows XP, Windows
Media Center, Classic Windows Style (think
Win98/2000), or Windows Vista, which
looks the least out of place in Win7. There's
no Aero Peek functionality, either.

So why are we even looking at this
product? There are subtle reasons for
picking this over the others. For example, its
installer is just 454KB, and it consumes just
7MB of RAM; even on slow PCs it works
quickly. It includes a built-in Clipboard
Expander, which monitors copy actions and
lets you paste multiple items at once, and
it includes Taskbar buttons for moving app
windows and maximizing them
across displays.

At this point, we'll mention
that most of these products have

a free version,

but these

free versions

basically just

let you manage

multidisplay

wallpapers.

They don't

have any

multidisplay

taskbars. The

free version of

MultiMonitor TaskBar, however, still has its

multimonitor taskbar(s) and only does away

with the window-moving buttons and some

of the extra taskbar themes. Obviously, the

sweet spot of price and features is easier to

hit when the cost is nothing, but MultiMon

TaskBar Free hits it while UltraMon, AMM,

and DisplayFusion Pro don't. And, after all,

maybe you still want your Taskbar to look

like it used to.

Zhorn Software ZBar 0.81

Up until now, most of these products
have a paid version and a free version,
but ZBar just has a free version, a teeny
tiny 126KB download that consumes less
than 3MB of RAM when running. And
yet, with tweaking, it's capable of creating
a Win7 Aero-like taskbar that looks very
close to Microsoft's own.

ZBar needs you to pick your theme from
the following list: XP Classic, XP Cartoon,
XP Chrome, Vista, Zune, Royale, MacOS
10.4 (!), and Windows 7 Large and Windows
7 Small. The Windows 7 Large theme
roughly matches the default Win7 Taskbar,
but you still need to pick a color from a color
picker, click the Glass checkbox, and select a
transparency level (called "Visibility" within
ZBar) of about 70% to get it oh so close.

MultiMonitor TaskBar Pro Version
3.0

$28

Mediachance

www.mediachance.com

ZBar 0.81

Free

Zhorn Software

www.zhornsoftware.co.uk

Program icons are drag-
able but lack the slick
glowing background color
effect with a mouse hover.
There's also an option for
a fairly primitive-looking
copy of Aero Peek (small
windows aren't magnified enough for optimal
visibility, and it doesn't work when apps are
minimized), but it gets the job done. An
optional Clock and Calendar can appear
on the right edge, and clicking it displays a
year-at-a-glance calendar that's actually more
handy than Windows' own.

The Big Guys also offer screen saver
managers, wallpaper tools, and functions to
manage application windows across several
displays; ZBar adds everything except
a screen saver tool, but each is a low-rent
alternative. Instead of Title Bar buttons to
move windows around, ZBar makes do with
semi-programmable hotkeys. For picking
wallpapers, there are only two zooming/
cropping methods, so you need to carefully
size your wallpapers beforehand if you want
them to look right.

Still, at this price, we're very willing to
overlook minor shortcomings.

Recommendations

Ultimately, we found that even though
all of the programs here work similarly, each
offers different strengths and weaknesses,
making crowning a winner challenging. As
with many things, the "best" utility depends
on your priorities. If you want the best
facsimile of the Windows Taskbar on your
other displays, you want Actual Multiple
Monitors. If you want the most useful
window management features along with your
spare taskbars, then you want DisplayFusion
Pro. And if you just need a Taskbar that
works well and almost looks like Win7's own,
and you can't pay a cent, then ZBar is your
best choice.

by Warren Ernst

80 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

2x Fan Control Switches Control
Fan Speed of 2x 230 mm Fans

2x 230 mm Side Fans Cool
GPU and GPU Respectively

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— ■ \

Supports up to 340 mm VGA Card,
Can Easily Fit ATI 5970, Nvidia 480

Easy Swap HDD Bridge
Supports 4x Easy Swap HDD

Bottom Dust Filter
Prevents Dust Build-up

SSD & 2.5" HDD Bracket
Supports 2x SSD
Or 2x 2.5" HDD

Available at:

mmM amazoncor

lillCTO Cell

computers & electronics

CVBER

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WWW.AZZATEK.COM

LOADING ZONE

DataNumen Advanced Outlook Repair 3.2

Although they say you should never
store all your eggs in one basket,
Microsoft Outlook is especially guilty
for ignoring this old axiom. By default,
Outlook stores all your email, contacts,
notes, appointments, and tasks in just
one file, normally named "Outlookpst,"
and keeps it in a hidden folder deep in
the bowels of your file system. Should
something go wrong with this critical file,
Oudook basically becomes useless, unable
to access any of your information and
offering no real assistance in getting it back.

Perhaps because of this, there are
many PST repair utilities out there. But
we aren't aware of anything better than
Advanced Outlook Repair, which explains
its eye-popping price of $250. So just how
valuable is your old email and contact list?

First, a disclaimer: There are too many
ways to count how a PST file can become
corrupt, and there's no way for us to test

Repair v3.2 (Full Version)

ined

100% completed

Recover folder 'IPM COMMON VIEWS'...
Recover messaae 'LocalFieebusi'' ...
Recover folder tteebusy Data' ...

Recover folder 'To-Do Search' ..
Recover folder 'IJemPtocSeaicIV ...
Recover folder 'Tracked Marl Process™' ...
Recover folder 'All Messages'..

n^n

every recovery scenario. But with that
said, Advanced Outlook Repair takes what
we think is the right approach. There's a
downloadable trial version that looks at
your damaged PST file and then figures
out what it can recover before you buy it.

To simulate corrupt PST files, we took
old, multi-gigabyte PST files and, with an
editor, started cleaving out large sections
until Outlook wouldn't open. Then we let
Advanced Outlook Repair get to work. In

Advanced Outlook Repair 3.2

$249.95 I DataNumen
www.repair-outlook.com

every case, Oudook opened again, and the
vast majority of our content was restored.
We know how much we trimmed out,
and the results seemed reasonable.

The program itself is slick. It works
outside of Outlook and has the right
configuration tools, batch options, and
even drag-and-drop functionality to
make recovery a point-and-click affair. We
especially like how it can neatly split (overly)
large PSTs into multiple PSTs. It works
reasonably quickly, too.

So let us put it this way: If we were unable
to open a mission-critical PST file, Advanced
Outlook Repair is the first utility we'd try,
and it would probably be the last.

by Warren Ernst

Caelo Software NE0 Pro 5.02

Microsoft Outlook is becoming the
de facto standard in corporate email,
and because it comes with Microsoft
Office, it's popular among home users
who haven't gone the Webmail route.

Despite the new interface the latest
versions are graced with, Outlook's email
management still follows the tried-and-
true (read: ancient) "folder" scheme: New
mail shows up in the Inbox, and you're
expected to move messages into folders
for filing and organization. Gmail and other
programs have shown that tagging, filtering,
and instant searching are more efficient, and
NEO Pro adds these efficiencies to your
Outlook mail store extremely well.

You'll note we didn't say "adds these
efficiencies to Outlook." Although NEO Pro
is an Outlook "add-on," you typically work
with it via its own application window, which
appears automatically whenever Outlook
starts and looks sort of like Outlook itself. It

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automatically syncs Outlook's mail store with
its own catalog, first when installed and then
whenever Outlook takes mail in or sends it
out, so we found ourselves using NEO Pro
instead of Outlook for most mailing duties.

NEO Pro automatically analyzes, filters,
sorts, and categorizes your messages under
different tabs, organized by things such as
Date Range, Correspondent, Attachment, or
tags or flags you've assigned yourself. As such,
a single message can appear under different

..-•

NEO Pro 5.02

$49.95 I Caelo Software
www.caelo.com

tabs simultaneously, but that's kind of the
point; in Outlook, if you get a message
from Dan about a client being late,
would you put that in the Dan folder or
the client folder? Would it just sit in your
Inbox? With NEO Pro, it's everywhere,
and easily searchable.

This flexibility leads to a somewhat
busy, cluttered interface that takes time
to get familiar with (about 90 minutes of
video tutorials help, if you can sit through
them), but you can always just keep using
Outlook when you don't need NEO Pro's
organizational tools. We found ourselves
using it more each day, and if you have lots of
mail in Outlook, we suspect you will, too.

by Warren Ernst

82 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

Avid Studio

LOADING ZONE

Avid Studio is a sophisticated suite
of tools for capturing, editing, and
outputting video at a level that, with a bit
of practice, would be hard to distinguish
from that created by a professional
videographer. In fact, it's possible that
even some pros will end up using Avid
Studio simply because of its power,
versatility, and affordability

Like most such apps, Avid Studio
starts out displaying a timeline onto
which you can drop assets such as
images, sounds, and video footage. But
with the new release there is literally no
limit to how many layers of imagery, video,
or audio you can lay down. In fact, you
can create complete projects — each with
its own layers of assets — and then include
those within what become, in effect, parent
projects. The nesting of complex media
layers is limited only by the horsepower of
your Windows PC; you could, for example,

Avid Studio

$169.99 I Avid
www.avid.com

create an effects or content loop and save it
in a library of mini-projects to be used (and
reused) in other, larger projects.

Avid Studio also provides in-app
editing tools that let you change, clip,
crop, or otherwise enhance assets and
then reuse those modified assets in
multiple Avid Studio projects, all while
preserving the originals.

The suite comes with valuable tools to
help you create more and better video:
effects plug-ins, templates, royalty-free
content, video transitions, and more.
It even includes a training DVD and a
green-screen sheet for chroma-key effects.
In the end, of course, all of that
does you little good unless you end
up with video in the format you need.
Avid Studio lets you export to multiple
file and disc formats.

At less than one-fifth the price of
Apple's Final Cut Studio, Avid Studio
gives you professional-quality tools, but
with the handholding that most aspiring
pros and serious amateurs need.

by Rod Scher

Diskeeper 201 1 Professional

Your hard drive, with its electro-
mechanical arms, head, and platter,
has always been your system's Achilles'
heel. No matter how carefully you
designed and assembled your PC, and
no matter how impressive the quality of
your components, you always knew that
your drive could give up the ghost and
bring everything to a grinding halt.

The hard drive is still a weak spot,
but the new release of Diskeeper pro-
vides defragmentation tools that can
help optimize system performance and
safeguard the health of your valuable — and
sometimes finicky — hard drive.

Diskeeper 2011 Professional's defrag tools
are a far cry from earlier, less sophisticated
apps that have in the past been included
with operating systems. The program's
defragmentation-related options include
IntelliWrite, a proactive tool that prevents
most drive fragmentation before it occurs,

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and InstantDefrag, which works in real time
to eliminate any fragmentation that cannot
be prevented by IntelliWrite.

Many of today's systems are rarely
truly idle, so utilities that wait for an idle
period to begin defragging may never
get the chance to work. The Diskeeper
folks have worked around that issue by
designing a system that can work in the

Diskeeper 2011 Professional

$59.95 I Diskeeper
www.diskeeper.com

background without starving other
processes of resources; the result is
that Diskeeper 2011 can quickly and
efficiently defrag your drives, with
almost no discernible effect on your
system's speed or behavior.

Windows XP actually included a
licensed version of Diskeeper as its
defragmenter, but recent versions
of Windows have included Microsoft's
defragmentation tools instead. Diskeeper
is admirably suited to taking on the task
of defragmenting your drives, having long
offered tools that deliver more features
than the defragmenters included as part
of Windows.

by Rod Scher

CPU/ May 2011 83

LOADING ZONE

oliOS

Fulfilling Its Promises

Although there's not a lot in version
1.2 of Joli OS that, on paper, is
particularly earth-shattering, the whole
platform feels more mature, faster, and
more stable. It feels like it's ready to be
taken seriously as a Web-centric OS.

ChomeOS Joli OS

The Jolicloud platform, which includes
Joli OS and the optional Jolibook
netbook, offers a lightweight operating
system that you can install and use locally
but is focused on the Web. You can access
your own Jolicloud account online from
just about anywhere.

You can install Joli OS locally as
the sole operating system or in a dual-
boot config with Windows, but it's also
possible to run it in a virtual machine or
as a live version from a USB flash drive.
The local installation connects with your
online Jolicloud account.

The online desktop environment is
clean and simple and consists of little
more than five navigational icons in the
upper-left corner of the screen, a search
bar, and pages of apps arranged as tiles.

Although there are hundreds of
"apps" you can install with a click in the
Jolicloud directory, most aren't so much
applications as they are links to Web
sites and online tools and services. (It's
important to note that you can install
a few applications locally and use them
offline.) Still, it's an interesting way to
visually collect and organize the sites and
services you use.

If all of this sounds like a description of
ChromeOS with the name changed, that's
because the two are essentially the same
idea. However, that's not a bad thing.

First of all, the concept of having a
lightweight operating system that gives
both a whole computing environment
that you can access virtually anywhere

plus a local installation so you can
use a dedicated machine (or bootable
partition at least) for it is a fascinating
one on its own.

Second, although ChromeOS will no
doubt be very nice, nobody has it yet,
save for the 60,000 or so lucky folks
who got a Cr-48 laptop in the mail from
Google. Yes, the Chrome Web Store for

A Closer Look

Installing Joli OS is straightforward: to
set up a dual-boot configuration, you just
download the installer, run through a few
setup screens, and the program will take
care of partitioning for you. If you want
to install Joli OS as the lone operating
system on a machine, you can download
the Joli OS ISO and the Jolicloud USB

Joli OS is a clean, easy-to-use cloud-centered operating system.

apps is pretty much how a lot of people
will use ChromeOS, but it's just not the
real thing yet. Joli OS, however, beat
ChromeOS to market and is available
right now for download. You can grab it
at www.jolicloud.com/download.

Further, ChromeOS currently won't
let you dual-boot with another operating
system. That's something that may or
may not be changed when ChromeOS
is finally available to the general public
(supposedly sometime this year), but with
Joli OS, you can do it now.

Creator. Once you make a USB key and
boot to the BIOS, you can install Joli OS
from the USB key.

Accessing your Jolicloud from the
computer on which Joli OS is installed
and accessing it from another machine
are similar experiences. However,
on the Joli OS machine you get the
distinct advantage of being able to work
offline with some applications and take
advantage of local storage.

Indeed, a Joli OS machine has a file
browser and the standard Desktop,

84 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

LOADING ZONE

Documents, and Music folders, and so
on. These areas are not available when
you access your Jolicloud from another
computer, but they're quite nice to have
on your main Joli OS machine.

There are several apps that take
advantage of this and are therefore far
more than just Web links — they let you
work offline and save files to your local
storage and include the likes of Writer,
Audacity, PowerPoint Viewer, Hulu
Desktop, and GIMP.

You can install any apps by clicking the
green plus sign in the upper-left corner of
the main screen, choosing from hundreds
of apps that are divided into various
categories such as Communication,
Enterprise, Games, Graphics, Music,
Productivity, and more. You can also add
a new app (well, a link to a Web site that
will appear as an app on your Joli OS
screen) by clicking the Add New App
button on the bottom left of the screen
and entering a URL and description,
and uploading an image. (You can access
native apps here, too — just click Native
Apps on the left side of the screen.)

Although you can access several online
storage services, such as SugarSync,
SkyDrive, and Box.net, Joli OS has
built-in Dropbox integration, so you can
access your Dropbox files right in your file
browser. Even better, it still acts like local

storage when you access your Jolicloud
online from another computer in that it
appears in the storage area.

There's a Myjolicloud area where you
can view and edit your account and the
settings for Jolicloud on that particular
computer (such as enabling or disabling
Auto-Login and the Guest Mode). Of
course, when accessing your Jolicloud
online from a different machine, you can't
access any settings for that computer.

Joli OS has some social features
built in, and their usefulness is
debatable. The Jolicloud je ne sais
quoi is all about the social; it's easy to
connect Jolicloud to your Facebook
account, and you're supposed to invite
your friends to the platform, collect
"followers," and follow others in turn.
It appears to be a way to stay in touch
and also disseminate information
on the newest, coolest, and most
intriguing apps. Joli users also have a
Public Page, which is what anyone can
see when they visit my.jolicloud.com/
[yourname]. You can edit the settings
for your public page, which displays
items such as how many followers you
have, how many computers you're
connected to, your name, and which
apps are your favorites.

There's also a stream that shows
you what your friends are up to on

Jolicloud, and they in turn can keep
tabs on your activity.

If you're the type to make new friends
online, cajole your existing friends into
jumping onto a computing platform with
you, or don't mind all your Facebook
friends knowing all about your online
computing, then you'll likely find a use
for those social features. If not, you can
use Joli OS to your heart's content while
ignoring them.

The Target

Joli OS is designed not only to leverage
the usefulness of computing online and
to run on netbooks, but also to offer a
way to resurrect old computers. Although
you can drop a few hundred bucks on a
Jolibook (a notebook designed specifically
for Joli OS), the OS requires very few
resources, so it can be installed on
years-old machines and run just fine.

For many, that's little more than a
novelty, but for plenty of others, it's a gift.
How many people who can't afford much
of a computer can now take someone's
3- or 5 -year-old castoff laptop and turn it
into a machine that opens the door of the
Internet to them?

For those who can afford a decent
computer, Joli OS is still a useful
addition to their computing life. It's
fun, smart, and easy to use. You'll find
yourself poking around for interesting
apps, installing them, and then
rediscovering them later on when you're
looking for an app that does something
specific. Many of us do that already
when browsing the Internet, but we're
more likely to bookmark a site in a
browser and forget all about it. With
Joli OS, you see those items in your
pages, so they're harder to ignore.

The real story with Joli OS is that
what was once a neat idea with iffy
implementation appears to have matured
into something both compelling and
stable. And it didn't take long, which
makes one excited to see what the
Jolicloud crew comes up with next. ■

by Seth Colaner

When you install Joli OS on a computer, you gain the use of local file storage and offline productivity.

CPU/ May 2011 85

TIPS & TRICKS

5DFTWARE TIPS & PROJECTS

Stop Following Me, Part 2

Online privacy was once a topic
reserved for policy wonks and ad
technology companies. In the past six
months, the issue has vaulted into everyone's
consciousness as the FTC and ad industry
groups all focus on the issue. Last month,
we looked at some of the third-party ad
opt-out tools and sniffing utilities that
help a user monitor who is tracking them
and manage some of their own data. This
time we get closer to the browser. All of
the major browsers now seem to be touting
privacy protection as a feature of their next
generations of browsers. This month, we
look at the options.

Polishing Privacy On Chrome

Google entered the privacy wars in
January with a new extension for Chrome it
calls "Keep My Opt-Outs." As we outlined
last time, a consortium of online marketing
associations is offering a centralized opt-
out facility at AboutAds.info. But like most
opt-out tools, this one works by using
browser cookies to instruct ad networks not
to target ads to users. But cleaning out one's
browser cookies can clear this opt-out cookie
and leave the browser open again to targeting.

Keep My Opt-Outs claims to maintain
in the browser a "persistent opt-out" of

* chrome web store

Extensions ► by Google ► Keep My Opt-Outs

popeyesm@gmail.com T | Search the store

cssss

Keep My Opt-Outs is an extension for users who aren't comfortable with personalisation of the ads they see on the web. It's a
one-step, persistent opt-out of personalized advertising and related data tracking performed by companies adopting the
industry privacy standards for online advertising.

Some things yau should know:

* In spite of the standard Chrome permission warnings you may see when you install this extension, we do not track or keep
anv records related to websites vou mav visit .

Trils extension can access:

' Your data on edge.ru4.com,
.edga.ru4.cam. and 144
other websites - see all

version: 1.0.10

Google Chrome offers an extension that will retain your cookie opt-outs from the major ad networks.

all the ad networks and content providers
that are included in this initiative. You can
double-check the status of the opt-outs by
going to www.aboutads.info/choices , where
the site will scan your cookies and report on
your tracking cookie status.

Chrome's Omnibox feature turns the
address bar in the browser into an all-in-one
tool that both navigates to Web sites and
conducts Google searches. As such, it also
uses Google's predictive technology to

Windows Tip Of The Month

All major browsers now have some form of a privacy mode, which promises a browsing experience
that does not store cookies or leave traces of one's surfing history after the session. It's important to
note that it is not always clear what a "privacy mode" really means in I

liimwacwitliEiiTi

A thorough study of the major browsers presented last summer by researchers from Stanford
and Carnegie Mellon Univeristy discovered that "private browsing is used differently from how
it is marketed." In fact, browser plug-ins complicate privacy protection. The study found "an
extension can completely undermine its privacy guarantees" and passwords and SSL client
certificates made in public mode can be available to sites in private mode. In other words, these
researchers argued, there is leakage of browsing history even into these supposedly private
browsing modes. User beware. The full research is available o+ ri L !

offer suggestions as you search and plumbs
your browsing history for suggestions. This
is part of the data sent back to Google
to improve its accuracy. But predictive
searching also can reveal to other users on
your PC what some of your frequent online
haunts are.

Google insists that it records only
a "random 2% of this information" and
"anonymizes" that data within 24 hours
of receiving it. But you can opt out of this
process altogether by going to the Chrome
Options menu and entering Under The
Hood. Here, you will find a checkbox you
can uncheck for using a predictive service
to help complete searches and URLs in the
Omnibox. You will also find in this menu
the option to disable sending Google usage
stats and crash reports.

The other two key areas to check on
Chrome are accessible through the Content
Settings and Clear Browsing Data buttons.
The first lets you set cookie policy, including
blocking cookies altogether or clearing
cookies when you close the browser session.
Another important but often overlooked
option involves location awareness, where
the browser can use the IP address from

86 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

F/\NC EVO SERIES

HLA™!* MAM HA

CyberPower has made a name for itself by
supplying gamers with high-quality PCs built
from the finest components in the industry
for years, and that tradition continues with
the latest addition to the company's tech
arsenal: NVIDIA's GeForce GTX 590.

CyberPower will make this dual-GPU
monster available to customers through
a variety of system configurations across
its product families, starting first and
foremost with the flagship of its Fang EVO
Series, the Black Mamba.

Like all of CyberPower's custom creations,
the Black Mamba comes with a myriad
of options at nearly every component
slot, and you get the enviable task of
picking the parts CyberPower will build
into your system. But the Mamba's default
loadout consists of an Intel Core i7-990X
(overclocked to 30% or more, at your
discretion), an ASUS P6X58D Premium
X58 motherboard, 12GB of 1,600MHz
DDR3, a Cooler Master 1,000W Silent Pro
Gold 80 Plus power supply, two 64GB
SSDs configured in RAID 0, and a 2TB
data drive, all packed lovingly into Corsair's
gorgeous Obsidian Series 800D Full Tower.

And now, with the release of NVIDIA's
newest high-end graphics card, the Black
Mamba also comes standard with two liquid-
cooled GeForce GTX 590s, for a quad-SLI
configuration that meets CyberPower's
stringent All Venom OC Certification. Among
other things, this means that this monster rig
runs at a whisper-silent 18dBA, and you can
opt for even more sound-deadening materials
in your build if you like.

If you're looking for the ultimate gaming rig,
look no further. CyberPower's Fang EVO
Series Black Mamba has the technology, the
engineering, and the attention to detail to
make it your first choice, and second place
isn't even close. ■

ang EVO Series Black Mamba

Base Price $4,909 Before Applicable Rebates

CyberPower

www.cyberpowerpc.com

TIPS & TRICKS

5DFTWARE TIPS & PROJECTS

which you are logging in to locate you, both
for content providers and advertisers. The
default setting for Chrome requires sites
to ask for permission, but you may not
always be aware of which sites had been

Privacy Report

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To view a site's privacy summary, select an item in the list, and
then click Summary.

Learn more about cookies

| Settings | [ dose

Internet Explorer 9 includes a feature that gives a privacy
report on every server that is sending data to a Web page and
whether it is also trying to plant cookies on your browser.

given location permissions in the past,
so you might want to block it altogether.
Finally, if you are unaware of the plug-ins
that may be installed on your system click
the Disable Individual Plug-ins link to see
what is running on your system. You can
then disable them individually.

On the Clear Browsing Data screen,
notice that a drop-down menu can let
you target specific time periods, so you
can scrub the traces of your browsing over
the last hour, day, week, month, or since
installation. Notice that Chrome offers
more granular control over what kinds of
data to clear or retain.

Note that we used Chrome 10.0.648 beta.

A New Explorer

Microsoft is coming out swinging in
the privacy feature wars with its upcoming
Internet Explorer 9 release. We used the
Release Candidate version that was available
in early March. The company made waves
by calling for industry adoption of a "Do
Not Track" browser-level standard. In this
proposal, a user sets a "Do Not Track"
preference in the browser, and both Web
sites and third-party advertisers would
recognize that setting in the browser and
have to respect the request not to track that
user. This is merely a proposed standard that

would need to be adopted industry-wide to
prove effective. But IE9 is also providing a
new Tracking Protection List feature that
lets users easily import lists from privacy
organizations such as PrivacyChoice and
TRUSTe to block third-party ad
servers from tracking users and
serving ads.

In IE9, navigate to ie.microsoft.
com/testdrive/browser/tracking
protectionlists to find the current
list of providers. Clicking the Add
TPL link beside any of them will
add this blacklist to the browser.
To get details about what is being
allowed in or blocked, open the
Tools menu (ALT-X), point to
Safety, and click Tracking Pro-
tection. You will see a list of
imported TPLs. Click any one and
use the More Information link in
the bottom window to call up the
filtering list. IE9 checks once a week for
updates to the TPLs you have active.

Another cool way to use IE9 to snoop
on the snoopers is to access the Web Privacy
Policy report, which is in the same Safety
menu. This calls up a list of all the sources
of the content being fed onto that page,
including ad networks and trackers, and
whether you are blocking or accepting them.

Firefox 4 Opts Into Campaigning
For DNT

Providing a universal Do Not Track
option for Web browsers is clearly gaining
some momentum among browser makers.
The Federal Trade Commission recently
suggested to legislators that a final solution
to the problem of online behavioral tracking
may have to come at the browser level.

In March, Mozilla released Firefox 4,
which includes a new option that, like
IE9, sends an HTTP header that instructs
the site you do not want to be tracked. In
Firefox 4, open the Options window and
navigate to the Advanced section. Under the
Browsing section of the General tab, a new
checkbox has been added: Tell Web Sites I
Do Not Want To Be Tracked.

For the time being, sending a DNT (Do
Not Track) request to a site seems fruitless
because there is no standard for this header,

let alone any agreement among leading
advertisers and sites to comply with the
request. In a blog post explaining the new
feature, however, self-proclaimed Mozilla
"Security and Privacy Guy" Sid Stamm
explains ( bit.ly/hGuTrc ) that enabling the
DNT header now is not in vain: "The
presence of the header can be observed by
Web sites (in a similar way to a cookie) to
help understand how desired opt-out of
[online behavioral advertising] is." In other
words, enabling the DNT option helps the
online media ecosystem understand how
much users want this option.

Regardless of what third-party advertisers
decide to do, it's clear that the big-name
browser developers have heard users' calls
for more privacy controls loud and clear. ■

by Steve Smith

INFINITE LOOP

To The Cloud!
(No, Really,
To The Cloud!)

In Qatar, average highs push triple digits
a staggering five months out of the year.
Because of this, Qatari scientists have
decided that it's not too soon to start
figuring out how to keep legions of soccer-
crazed fans from frying when the World
Cup rolls into town in 2022. The solution,
clearly, is artificial clouds. The endeavor,
a joint effort of Qatar University and Qatar
Science and Technology Park, will produce
the world's second driveable Stratus at a
cool half a mil a pop.

\i*U

88 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

TIPS & TRICKS

5DFTWARE TIPS & PROJECTS

arm Up To Penguins

Sweet Suites For Your Open Office

I n the Windows world, the dominant
! office suite is Microsoft Office, but
on other platforms, the choice isn't so
clear-cut. Although Microsoft has a Mac
version of Office, it lacks some of the
features of its Windows counterpart. And
Microsoft doesn't have a version
of Office for Linux, of course. As
a result of these factors, you may
want to think twice about using
Office if you frequently use a mix
of Windows, Mac, and Linux.

When a cross-platform office
suite is needed, most people
choose OpenOffice.org. It's a
free, open-source suite that has
the same features across multiple
platforms and plays nice with
Microsoft Office. But when Oracle
acquired Sun (one of OpenOffice
.org's main developers), it imposed
some copyright rules that some
volunteer OpenOffice.org dev-
elopers found objectionable.

As a result, in late 2010, a group
of those developers created an organization
called The Document Foundation. The
goal of this group was to develop a free,
open-source, cross-platform office suite
that wasn't hamstrung by any of Oracle's
copyright issues. Their initial release was
a rebranded version of OpenOffice.org,
complete with some fixes that Sun or
Oracle had rejected. This new office suite
was dubbed LibreOffice, a derivative of
OpenOffice.org.

But just how viable can LibreOffice
be, given that it will have none of the
resources that OpenOffice.org does?
That answer came in early 2011 when
The Document Foundation's startup
fundraising drive secured enough fi-
nancing to act as seed money to keep the
effort going. Also, some of the biggest
companies with Linux distributions have
thrown their support completely behind

LibreOffice. Canonical (Ubuntu), Novell
(openSUSE), and Red Hat (Fedora Core)
have all announced that they're replacing
OpenOffice.org with LibreOffice.

Other Office Suites

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LibreOffice offers a few distinct advantages over Open0ffice.org ;
including the ability to read and write Microsoft OOXML files.

core KDE libraries rebuilt on Windows
so that you can run KDE applications
on Windows. This is a similar concept to
how WINE lets Linux users run Windows
applications. Calligra isn't truly running
on Windows the way OpenOffice.org or
LibreOffice do.

Similarly, GNOME Office is
often advertised as being a cross-
platform office suite, but it's really
a loose collection of applications
that together perform many office
tasks. Because it's a collection of
applications, rather than a unified
suite, only some of its components
are cross-platform. Another issue
with GNOME Office is that be-
cause it's a collection of separate
projects, there is no one place to get
the entire suite. You have to go to
different open-source project Web
sites and download each component
you want.

You may wonder why we're only
focusing on these two suites. After all,
there are other free, open-source, and
cross-platform office suites for Linux.
In particular, Calligra Suite (formerly
KOffice), and GNOME Office users will
chime in that their particular products
are viable office suites. It's certainly true
that those two collections of programs
are popular and have support by their
respective organizations. The problem
is that they're not as comprehensive as
OpenOffice.org or LibreOffice.

Calligra Suite touts itself as a cross-
platform office suite, except that it really
isn't. Calligra Suite itself even admits
on its own Web site that there's only
"preliminary support" for it on Mac and
Windows. Indeed, to run this office suite
on Windows, you have to install the KDE
Windows Initiative, which consists of

OpenOffice.org vs. LibreOffice

Just how much difference can there be
between OpenOffice.org and a derivate
that's not even a year old? It turns out
that there are quite a number of things
different between OpenOffice.org and
LibreOffice. To be sure, both are very
similar to each other, but a number of
patches and extensions were immediately
merged into LibreOffice. Most of these
fixes are under-the-hood bug fixes in
general, but some include better memory
usage and faster startup times. For
whatever reason, Sun and Oracle chose
not to accept these fixes into the main
OpenOffice.org code.

But simple bug fixes aren't going to
distinguish a new branch of an open-source
project that's been around for a while.

CPU/ May 2011 89

TIPS & TRICKS

5DFTWARE TIPS & PROJECTS

Thanks in large part to prior development work
Novell brought to The Document Foundation,
LibreOffice boasts impressive VBA capabilities.

LibreOffice sports some extremely useful
features that haven't been incorporated
into the base OpenOffice.org code. Many
of these capabilities come from Go-oo,
another OpenOffice.org-derived office
suite that was backed by Novell. However,
Go-oo developers recently announced that
they're stopping work and focusing their
efforts on LibreOffice. This shift has brought
immediate rewards to LibreOffice.

Although OpenOffice.org has the
ability to read Microsoft Office 2007's
new Office Open XML files, it doesn't
have the ability to save files back in the
same format. Sun had previously made a
free plug-in for Microsoft's Office suite
to be able to read OpenOffice. org's files.
But when Oracle acquired Sun, it started
selling the same plug-in and requiring a
minimum order of 100. Adding to this
is that Microsoft Office 2007 SP2 and
later provided native, and free, support
for OpenOffice.org documents.

Novell had long provided Go-oo with
the ability to read and write Office Open
XML files. When Microsoft and Novell had
signed a series of agreements in 2006, one
of the aspects was an agreement to improve
the interoperability between Linux and
Windows. To that end, Novell developed
an Office Open XML filter that would let
OpenOffice.org load and save the new file
formats Microsoft introduced. However,
either due to copyright concerns or because
of worries over Novell's agreement with

Microsoft, that code never made it into the
base OpenOffice.org code. But with The
Document Foundation's separation from
OpenOffice.org, Novell has implemented the
filter in the base LibreOffice code.

Another feature that Novell provided
to the fledgling LibreOffice effort is better
VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) sup-
port. Microsoft Excel users have long used
VBA macros to better manage large and
complicated spreadsheets. And although
OpenOffice.org 3 introduced VBA support,
by most accounts it's very limited and
doesn't meet the needs of many. Go-oo
spreadsheet application, by contrast, has
far better VBA support. And with the
Go-oo developers moving to LibreOffice,
they have brought that better VBA support
with them. And so, with these two simple
abilities, LibreOffice already leapfrogs over
OpenOffice. org's capabilities.

But the features that come from another
open-source project and from one vendor
are just the beginning. The Document
Foundation has already announced that
it's going to be moving away from its
reliance on Java for certain OpenOffice
.org features. Currently, some file exporting
and wizard capabilities are provided to
LibreOffice through Java programs.
In the future, LibreOffice developers
want to replace them with native code.
Moving off of Java has a number of
side benefits aside from the obvious
reliance on Oracle's Java.

One benefit is improved performance
overall for LibreOffice over
OpenOffice.org. Instead of
having to load Java when
using one of the features
that depend on it, which
increases system load, ev-
erything will already be
loaded. Another benefit is that it'll
be easier to use LibreOffice
on Mac, making a bet-
ter case for LibreOffice
as a cross-platform
open-source office
suite. By eliminating the

dependence on Java, LibreOffice can find a
wider audience in the Mac community.

OpenOffice.org is the open-source
cross-platform office suite of choice at
the moment, but LibreOffice is making a
strong case for people to try it out. It offers
better interoperability with Microsoft
Office and promises to be faster and more
stable in the future. I

by John Jung

INFINITE LOOP

Just What Do You
Think You're Doing,
Little Davey?

IBM recently applied to patent a new
technology called "Adaptive System
for Real-time Behavioral Coaching
and Command Intermediation," or, as
Gizmodo puts it, a "HAL-like computer
system for stuffed animals." The idea
behind the tech is to incorporate it into
some sort of stuffed critter a child is
playing with. HAL Bear, as we'll call
him, monitors the child's behavior
and admonishes him when he's
not playing well with other
children. If that fails, we
suspect HAL Bear will
encourage the
little rascal
I to take a
P stress pill
and think
things
over.

90 May 2011 / www.computerpoweruser.com

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YOUR LEISUR

CPU

Yeah, we know you have blogs to post, video to encode, reports to write, and code to compile. We do,
too, but you have to take a break once in a while (and maybe blow some stuff up). That's why each month
we give you the lowdown on what to expect from the latest interesting PC and console games.

Less Blight, Still Plenty To Fight

-by Andrew Leibman

—

$59.95 (X360, PS3, Mac, PC) • ESRB: (M)ature • Electronic Arts • dra£

BioWare's Dragon Age II sends you to
the darkspawn-infested wilds of the
Free Marches, a region north of Ferelden
where the heroes from Dragon Age:
Origins fought together, bantered wittily,
fraternized, and died (or not). In this
middle chapter of the Dragon Age trilogy,
you step into the leather boots of a human
named Hawke. You can choose your
gender, but your race is set in stone. You
can also fine-tune your character's face
and select warrior, mage, or rogue as your
specialization. Returning players can also
import their Dragon Age: Origins and
Awakening saves for added continuity.

The events of Dragon Age II take place
over the course of a decade as Hawke
works his way from a refugee outcaste to
the Champion of Kirkwall. But that's no
spoiler; the whole story is told as a series
of flashbacks as the dwarf Verric relates
the story of your rise to prominence to a
Chantry Seeker, Cassandra Pentaghast.

Following an action-packed intra, the
narrative slows to a crawl as you establish
yourself, make friends and enemies, and
perform various odd jobs. Luckily the excellent
dialogue and deep combat experience will
keep you engaged. Act two ratchets up the
tension with the enigmatic and fierce-looking
Qunari, and the final act quickly escalates as

mages and Templars struggle with the fallout
of the Qunari uprising.

The hardcore RPG fans that lauded
DA:0 for its highly tactical nature may
be disappointed at DAI Is more action-
oriented combat. That's not to say tactics
aren't important; on Hard and Nightmare
difficulties, scripted behaviors, party
movement, spell management, and mana
and stamina level maintenance will become
a constant necessity. Throughout the
game, you'll need to tackle various personal
problems for the characters in your party.
Whether you're helping a widower find
new love, avenge a brother's betrayal, or
help a friend cope with being possessed,
the companion quests are varied, dramatic,
sometimes touching, often humorous, and
always result in fleshing out your relationships.

The aspects of DAN that don't work as
well are the limited settings; most of
the campaign takes place in and
around the city of Kirkwall; the
dungeons, too, are endlessly
recycled for dozens of side
missions. Graphically, the
game is stunning, and
BioWare's high-
res texture pack
(graphics cards with
1GB of memory

recommended) really adds detail. But despite
the impressive vistas, you cannot stray from
the path. Armor and weapons also present
a problem; early on, you're left to your own
devices when distributing your attribute points
after attaining each level. But later in the game,
there are several must-have weapons and
pieces of armor, but to equip them you need
to have high attributes in a pair of categories;
magic and willpower for light armor, dexterity
and cunning for medium armor, and strength
and constitution for heavy armor. But we
didn't find out we should have been pouring
our attribute points into these paired cate-
gories until roughly midway through the game.
In this way, you're shooting yourself in the
foot if you want to create a half mage half
warrior class by spreading your points across
more attributes.

The biggest strength of BioWare's
Dragon Age series is authenticity,
and DAN is absolutely soaking
i) in it. This universe is about

/^ political power grabs, culture

shock, fanaticism, racism,
and war; all realities of our
universe and instantly

t recognizable. The fantasy

elements are just icing on
the cake. It is a magical
cake, though. ""

TT^-

$29.99 (PC) • ESRB: (M)ature

THQ • dawnofwar2.ee

RETRIBUTION

Take Up Arms In The Race War-by Dr. Malaprop

The "expansive" six faction campaign, how-
ever, left us slightly underwhelmed. Having six
campaigns sounds great on the back of the
box, but playing through said campaigns was
sometimes repetitive because each campaign
plays through the same maps. Each faction
requires different strategies, but we tired of
seeing the same locations.

As has been consistent with the Dawn Of
War II series to date, the game differs from
traditional RTS games by not focusing on
mining resources to construct buildings and
units. Instead, the last two Dawn of War II
releases have provided players with mostly

f.^A v-™-™ .v-™,- /\,™ ,v <™.^ »»,U;^[-, y QU neeC [ ft)

You get a lot of content for your money
when purchasing Dawn Of War II: Ret-
ribution, a standalone series expansion
after last year's Chaos Rising. Highlights
include the six playable Warhammer
40,000 factions (with each featuring its
Dwn lengthy campaign), as well as The Last
>tand mode, which features three co-op
Dlayers fighting waves of enemies in Horde
node-inspired RTS combat. Both features
>rp welcome additions, and we'd love to see
,c <- ^tand mode in more RTS mmK

utilize wisely (for example, take cover and flank
the enemy) to complete missions. Retribution,
however, let's you take over existing bases
to produce additional units, bringing some
pleasant variety to Dawn of War II gameplay.
The audio features solid voice acting and
effects. Not surprisingly, the visuals are the
best we've seen in the series, and we loved the
detail in unit models. What is still lacking after
Chaos Rising is the Al. We'd have preferred
more time spent here than on providing the
similar-feeling campaigns. However, at the en<
of the day, Dawn Of War II: Retribution is an
approachable, bargain-priced, and enjoyable
RTS game. ■

A Twist On First-Person Carnage
-by Dr. Malaprop

v . , . v , ww~, . ^, . ,_ v ESRB: (M)ature • Electronic Arts • bulletstorm.com

Bulletstorm feels like it came out of the late 1990s, something
in the Duke Nukem vein, only with modern graphics design,
violence, language, and adolescent humor. Despite those
draws, it's the skill-based fragging that provides this game's
unique feel.

The sci-fi narrative is stale but works for the game's needs. As
Grayson Hunt, a former government spec op, you end up crashing
on the planet Stygia. From then on, your objective is to get off the

planet. Many recent FPSes have felt short; Bulletstorm is no exception.
Expect six to nine hours of playtime from the single-player campaign.
Creative killing is the key to success, and you'll need to use variety to
gain maximum points via the Skillshots.

Early on, you'll get a leash to use extensively throughout the
game. It lets you pull enemies toward you so you can kick them
away or onto other objects. You can also slide into enemies and
pin them down momentarily, keeping them in your sights. You
can then use these abilities alongside your weapons and in various
environments to dish out punishment to the villainous scourge of
cyberpunks you encounter.

The graphic engine displays destruction brilliantly, and we like having
an FPS that actually uses a broad color palette on cartoonish characters.
Music is passable, but it's the dialogue that can get tiresome much of
the time. (There are occasional good audible moments.) So if you can
overlook the gore and colorful language, you'll discover a complex kill
system that pumps some innovation into what some gamers would
describe as a staid genre. L

The Ultimate Turf War-by Chris Trumble

Published by THQand developed by KAOS
Studios, Homefront is an FPS that takes place
in a near future in which a unified Korea has
taken advantage of the United States' severe
economic problems (brought on by massive
spikes in oil prices) and occupied most of the
country west of the Mississippi River.

You play the role of Robert Jacobs, an
ex-military chopper pilot who is headed for

reeducation in a small Colorado town
when you are rescued by the U.S. resistance
movement that uses guerilla tactics to battle
the Korean occupation forces, which far
outnumber them and have vastly superior
firepower and technology.

If you're having flashbacks to the 1984
Soviet invasion flick "Red Dawn," you're on
the right track; although Charlie Sheen is in no
way involved (as far as we know), this game
has a number of common traits with the
movie, including a shared author, John Milius.

Campaign mode is pretty solid technically
and is quite a bit of fun to play. Aside from
its brevity and some minor gripes with NPC
voice prompts (your fellow freedom fighters

$59.99 (X360, PS3); $49.99 (PC) • ESRB: (M)ature
THQ • www.homefront-game.com

remind you a little too early and often about
your current objective, often screaming at the
top of their lungs as they do so), we couldn't
find any major flaws. The game's multi player
modes are also enjoyable but provide limited
options, and aside from a much larger role
for vehicles than in the campaign, are pretty
standard fare.

As much as we enjoyed the campaign, it
doesn't last long and won't provide a ton of
replay value; as such, Homefront's long-term
value for many players will hinge
on finding some quality,
regular partners for the
multi player game. ■

'Wr\\

FIGHT NIGHT

CHJUWPIOA'

Campaign With Purpose-by Dr. Malaprop

$59.95 (X360, PS3) ESRB: (M)ature Electronic Arts ea.com/fight-night

^ C#

fllljtf

The latest game in the series hinges its moniker on the
new Champion Mode that most players should be able
to complete in less than eight hours. The campaign
builds a narrative about a boxer named Andre Bishop.
The game starts dramatically, with Andre engaged in a
bare-knuckle prison fight. Andre wins the fight but is
later ambushed in the shower and has his hand broken.
The game then flashes back to how Andre got into prison
after such a promising career start.

The great thing about Champion Mode is how
effectively the narrative works with the gameplay to
ramp up players on the skills needed to win bouts. For
example, in one campaign sequence, we broke our
previously broken hand during a fight. With only one
good hand, it becomes a challenge to get a knockout,

and continuing to use the broken hand leads to regional
anaerobic fatigue and speedy stamina loss. Narrative
points like these are commonplace for teaching players
how to make full use of the revamped Full Spectrum
Punch Control system— or the more traditional layout.
Completing the campaign sets you up to be compet-
itive in the Legacy Mode, where you can create your own
fighter, train, and fight through the ranks to a title.
However, we also liked the Fight Now option,
which let us pit world champion boxers
against each other. It's the next best thing (
to our 1970s Ali and Spinks action figures.
Fights are visually stunning, with sweat flying
and facial bones crunching. We did experience some
clipping but not enough to detract from the game. I

Not Quite A Home Run
-by Josh Compton

$59.99 (X360, PS3); $49.99 (Wii); $29.!
ESRB: (E)veryone 2K Sports
www.2ksports.com/games/mlb2k1 1

; $19.99 (NDS, PSP)

ports has excelled at producing basketball and tennis video games in the past, but it hasn't

quite been able to grasp America's favorite pastime. The series of MLB 2K games has seen many
minor adjustments to its formula, with each new iteration playing a little bit better than the one
before it. This year is no different as MLB 2 K1 1 is here, and, while most of it feels unchanged, there
are some improvements that make this the best entry in the franchise so far.

The graphics in MLB 2K1 1 hold up well at a distance, but as the in-game camera zooms in closer,
you can see that the detail, while better than in previous versions, is lacking. Player movements,
especially base running animations, are sometimes unrealistic. But where the game lacks in graphics,
it makes up for in presentation. The video replays after home runs are entertaining and bring excite-
ment to a perfectly timed swing. The announcers are great, if sometimes repetitive, and really add to
the overall experience of the game.

The gameplay is decent as you'll use the right stick (on X360 and PS3) to hit and pitch. The face
buttons are reserved for selecting base runners and throwing the ball to bases using a timed meter.
Pitching has been retooled, and you can feel the difference in accuracy from when you start a game
to when you make a few mistakes and the pitcher gets rattled. Hitting is very much the same as in
MLB 2K10, but we found it to be a little more forgiving on lower difficulties.

MLB 2K1 1 has a standard franchise mode that is organized well but isn't terribly deep. The My
Player mode is the same as last year, letting you take your player from the minor leagues to the
majors. MLB 2K1 1 still isn't the best baseball game on the market, but it's a good title for gamers
who need a baseball fix. ■

TOPS

SPORTS

King Of The Court-by Josh Compton

The Top Spin franchise has been through a few
reinventions, and, over the years, developers have
experimented with multiple control schemes — some
intuitive and others too difficult to master. With Top
Spin 4, 2K Sports has gone back to the basics with the
game's controls and over the top (in a good way) with its
atmosphere, action, and overall
,^ ~X on-court experience. The result is

a well-balanced and realistic game
J that can be challenging enough
^s* ^**&& for hardcore Top Spin fans but is also
accessible for newcomers to the series.
We started the game by creating a player. You have
numerous options for customizing your player, and as you
compete in more matches you will unlock new clothes,
rackets, and accessories. You can use your customized
player in any of the game's modes, and you'll earn XP
whenever you use this player.

Top Spin 4 has easily the best career mode of any
tennis game we've ever played. You start off playing

at little-known tournaments until you improve your
skills and play in Grand Slam tournaments such as the
U.S. Open or French Open with the ultimate goal of
rising to the level of Legend. You can feel the change in
atmosphere and enthusiasm in the crowd as you move
from one venue to another. This change creates a sense
of grandeur when you play in the more prestigious
tournaments. There is a World Tour mode that lets you
play online against other players in these same venues.

The controls work very well as the basic shots
(flat, top spin, slice, and lob) are assigned to the
face buttons with optional modifiers available if
you choose to use them. Player movement is fluid.
The gameplay rewards quick reflexes and smart
decisions so you may need to take advantage of the
Top Spin Academy mode that will help you learn
the basic and advanced controls.

2K Sports has taken tennis games to a new level with
Top Spin 4, and it's an experience that no fan of the sport
should miss. ■

Multiplayer Delights In Store For
This Trivia Classic-by Dr. Malaprop

$29.99 (X360, PS3, Wii); $19.99 (PC) ESRB: (T)een
THQ youdontknowjack.com

We first played You Don't Know Jack, the irreverent
trivia-quiz game show, in the mid-1990s. By the early
2000s, though, the game's star had faded. So we were
surprised to find ourselves playing a new version of
You Don't Know Jack in 2011.

YDKJ now supports solo and up to four players
in local or online multiplayer. Each player receives
a multiple-choice question with a tongue-in-cheek
clue. Console gamers respond by pressing the
appropriate button on the controller. The game
includes more than 70 episodes. Each player also
gets the chance to mess up an opponent in a game

by forcing the player to answer the current question
correctly within five seconds. If the player answers
incorrectly or fails to answer at all, he loses some of
the virtual money he has earned throughout the
game to you. If he answers correctly, you get hosed as
he receives money taken from your winnings.

You get 730 questions with addi-
tional (fee-based) downloadable

packs, but the presentation min-
imizes replayability. Gameplay is a «
blast but not quite on par with our
favorite PC releases. ■ - -4.

EYOlSfD

No Keeping A Good Game Down
-by Dr. Malaprop

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$10 (X360) ESRB: (T)een • Ubisoft • beyond-good-and-evil.ubi.com/beyond-good-and-evil-hd/en-US

We completed Beyond Good & Evil on the PC and original Xbox when it was released eight years
ago. At the time, we felt it was criminally underrated after poor sales. Since then, the game has
amassed a cult following, and anyone who missed the game in 2003 can try the latest version
of the game with HD graphics and a remastered soundtrack for $10 on the Xbox 360. (A PS3
version is expected as early as May.)

Beyond Good & Evil starts in an idyllic setting as Jade, our intrepid journalist and main
character, is found meditating. The peace lasts only briefly before we start to uncover the plot,
wherein people of the planet Hyllis are being abducted by aliens. Entertaining gameplay and a
budget price for a now-classic game that looks better than ever is welcome.

Completing the game requires approximately eight hours. Visually, the game benefits nicely
from the HD bump and maintains excellent pacing from start to finish. For such a dated game,
Beyond Good & Evil holds up surprisingly well, and the design more than satisfies by offering so
many ways to immerse yourself in Hyllis. Even Beyond Good & Evil's end-game feels rewarding. _

ORCMLIGM

%m?

Loot Done Right Late

Into The Night-by Dr. Malaprop

$15 (X360, PC) • ESRB: (E)veryone
Microsoft • torchlightgame.com

fvV

"Y^Br

** Mtf

This Diablo-inspired hack-n-slash was well-received on the PC during its 2009 release. The new HD version,
now available on Xbox Live Arcade, looks noticeably better, but it's the gameplay that holds up so well
because developer Runic Games opted (smartly) to revamp the user interface to be more console- i

friendly. The most noticeable change to controlling your on-screen character was to make your controller
sticks move players directly instead of requiring a mouse to point them in the desired direction.

Torchlight lets you choose from only three classes. During our first playthrough in 2009, we went
with a Fighter for melee combat. To mix things up this time around, we opted to play as a Ranger/Thief.
Furthermore, Torchlight is the best game you can play while waiting for Diablo 3. The 35-level dungeon
will keep you amply entertained for up to 15 hours. If you've finished the PC version, though, this
probably isn't a game you'll need— especially because it lacks co-op multiplayer. For anyone who
has not tried the PC version, this is an A-list game you shouldn't miss. ■

\3 | 4*a

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Penny Auction Business Rakes In Big Bucks

Going . . . going . . . gone. Did that
$232 Garmin hiker navigation
system really just sell at auction for 10
cents at Quibids? Did a Canon EOS
Rebel T2i SLR go for $1.66 at BidRivals?
And did a bidder at Skorelt just snap
up a $50 Kohl's card for 13 cents?

Indeed, thousands of online auctions
are ending with lucky winners, and
millions of people are being drawn to the
new penny auction phenomenon at these
and countless rival sites that promise an
opportunity to get iPads, HDTVs, and
even cars for a fraction of the retail price.

But wait. Nothing is quite that sim-
ple, or that cheap. In fact, the penny
auction is a controversial online auction
model that can cost many bidders
more than they bargained for and has
raised questions about whether this is
auctioning, gambling, or a new kind of
entertainment e-commerce.

This Ain't eBay

Unlike a standard auction, penny
auctions are a pay-to-bid model where
members pay usually about 60 cents every
time they bid on an item.

"Each auction starts at zero," says
Keith Montanaro, social media and
public relations specialist at BidRivals, a
company based in Malta that serves 28
countries. "I bid, and the price goes up
by one cent. The last person to place a bid
on the auction wins." Montanaro claims
that "the average savings in 2010 varied
between 60 to 90%."

The potential for massive savings is there,
to be sure, but so is a catch. For starters,

Ending Auctions

Bid Now - These auctions are about to end.

I Search Auctions

Garmin 10 Hike and Bike
Bundle

Ended

$0.10

tnjken

\ mmss ^

Ended

$0.20

JWhitecage

00:00:15
$0.02

vac0305

v m

00:00:17

$0.01

strihal

50 Bids Voucher

00:00:11

$0.05

vio 10001

Kalorik Steam Press

-^L

00:00:10

$0.50

TADOZIER

00:00:10

$0.13

coogs1915

25 Bids Voucher

00:00:14

$0.10

ep!1208

The countdown clock is ticking on auction deals that many penny auction players can't resist.

bidding isn't free: You buy bids, typically
at 60 cents per bid, and can then use those
bids on auctions. And in these auctions,
which seem to be in their final seconds,
any last-second bid will reset the clock
back to 15 seconds. The auction and the
incremental penny bidding can continue,
with the clock being reset to a final, short
countdown indefinitely before one bidder
emerges victorious by exhausting her
competitors' resilience to keep bidding.

But if you do the basic math, it
is clear, "the promoters of these things
are arguably making a bloody fortune
selling bids," says consumer watchdog
and host of Consumer World (www
.consumerworld.org ) Edgar Dworsky.

"I saw an ad for one yesterday where
someone won' the right to buy a $16,000
car for $1,740.78. Since this was an
auction that increased bids in two-cent
increments, that means that 87,039 bids
were sold . . . totaling over $52,000 of
income to the auction house." That may
be why BidRivals grew in short order
since 2009 from a few people working in
their apartments to 55 staff.

Unlike eBay, where the online auctioneer
hosts auctions for third-party sellers, many
of these penny auction companies actually
buy the goods from wholesalers and either
store and ship some of the items themselves
or have the wholesaler ship the goods to
buyers after the sale. The penny auction

Unlike a standard auction, penny auctions are a pay-to-bid model where
members pay usually about 60 cents every time they bid on an item.

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DEN NET

is deceptive, in that the odds are slim
that a bidder will win, and it is costlier
than many presume just to try. And some
believe that the pay-to-play aspect of
bidding in a process where the likelihood
of winning is so low it makes the model
closer to a casino than an auction.

"It becomes a very expensive habit for
some people," Dworsky says. "Being the
last bidder seems to me more a matter of
chance when everyone else has given up
than some type of skill."

house may lose money on providing the
item to the auction winner at a below cost
discount, but it more than makes up for
this loss from the bids it sold to all the losers
of the auction. Although the model may
feel like gambling to some, companies such
as QuiBid and Skorelt boast certifications
from the Better Business Bureau.

Bidding Or Gambling?

Critics of the penny auction craze
argue that the basic lure of these sites

QuiBids: In ItToWin It

Many penny auction sites emerged in recent years, and QuiBids.com is among the best promoted
and most popular. With its high profile and millions of monthly visitors, the company has also
attracted a class action lawsuit claiming that the company misleads bidders about the nature
of its auction model. CEO Matt Beckham insists that penny auctions like his are a new kind of
entertainment e-commerce that does involve skill and can be played to win.

CPU: How did QuiBids start, and how has it grown?

Beckham: A friend of mine and I co-founded it in 2009 after we had seen a penny auction site in
Germany. We launched in October 2009 with five of us. Today we have 1 1 5 employees. We are in a
hyper-growth phase.

CPU: How do you differentiate yourselves from others in the market?

Beckham: We offer a "Buy It Now" feature. Every bid you spend to win an item can be used as a

credit towards the cost of the item. On every auction there are multiple "Buy It Nows."

CPU: How often is it used?

Beckham: It is a fairly used feature . . . especially by long-term users who are used to the site and
realize it is to their advantage to use it. We're the only middle-to-large player that offers a "Buy It Now"
on every single auction. We are expanding beyond penny auctions to offer achievements and gaming
enhancements. We will award badges that give users free bids to use on future auctions. If you win in
one bid you might get five free. We see ourselves in the entertainment retail auction space.

CPU: QuiBids is being sued for being more akin to gambling than an auction.
Beckham: We don't like to comment on current lawsuits. But my take on people going after these
sites ... is that they are looking to cash in on anything they can. It is typical for a large company to
have class action lawsuits filed against them. We don't feel the lawsuits going around in the penny
auction space are legitimate. We will do what we have to to defend ourselves.

CPU: One question surrounding whether this is gambling or not concerns skill. Is there
skill involved?

Beckham: There are techniques for beating the competition. Some bid excessively to scare off
others. If you wait for the last second but don't always bid every time, then you have less chance
to win. If you bid a third of the cost of the item, you have a really good chance of winning it. A lot of
people just place a bid here and there and not spend. But the people who go in with the mentality
that they will buy it if they don't win it [are] usually ... the ones that win it. The longer a person
uses our site, they get to know how skill does play out. ■

Behind every "penny bid" on the
site, someone is spending $0.60. In
a flurry of competitive bidding, just
trying to one-up another bidder 10
times on a $15 gift card could cost a
person $6, and the odds are against
him winning in the end. After just a
few such auction losses, it's easy to
see how a bidder could have trouble
coming out ahead.

Whether penny auctions actually
constitute gambling depends on how
they are run, says attorney Joseph J.
Lewczak, partner at the firm Davis &
Gilbert who works with clients in
the advertising, entertainment, and
promotions fields. The legal definition
of gambling usually involves people
paying to play ("consideration") for the
chance of winning a prize where there
is pure chance and no skill involved
in the outcome. Some observers claim
penny auctions satisfy all of those criteria,
although others insist penny auctions are
a form of entertainment that does involve
strategy. (See Sidebar.)

"It depends on how the penny auction
is conducted," Lewczak says. "It's fun, and
you are paying for bids. But unless there
is a legitimate amount of skill or a free
way to play, there is the potential to cross
over the line."

Dworsky argues that consumers may
not really be aware of the model. "If
an iPad sells for $62, that means there
were 6,200 bids put in. How does the
consumer know when to come in or not?
They are lured by the countdown clock
and the seemingly unbelievable bargains."

But with all of the explanatory materials
around the sites and the arguments that
some skill is involved, it's not altogether
clear whether penny auction sites really
cross the line.

"The argument that a lot of these
operators make is that skill is involved,"
says Lewczak. "If you play some of
these things, there is behavioral analysis
that goes into participation. Who I am
bidding against, and what is the analysis
on the retail price and threshold in terms
of how many bids to make?"

CPU/ May 2011 99

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